Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I am finally getting around to celebrating 2023. Last year is over - it was rough. I'm looking ahead to this coming year and have decided it is going to be better.  It has to be.

 It is time to present the annual awards for the most exciting mailboxes I have driven past this year. We weren't able to travel but still managed to discover a few more. It makes me wonder if the word has spread about this competition and so now everyone is building a new mailbox to vie for first place.

The first award is for the most creative use of materials that happen to be on hand.  It takes real imagination to look at a pile of rusted junk dumped behind the barn and see a mailbox.

It was impossible to know which side was the front and which was the back. Both were equally...impressive?

The next category is, "What possessed them to make that into a mailbox?"  This is a wheel barrel holding a mailbox that is precariously balanced on top of the I-beam concrete footing which supports the powerline. Why do that? If lightning strikes the tower, will everything become electrified? Hopefully, these people know to not get their mail during a storm.

The next award goes to the first-ever "mail house."  It begs the question, "How much junk mail do these people get every day?

The next award will be presented to the world's worst driver.  This homeowner obviously can't back out of their driveway without hitting their mailbox. Now they can bump it all they want and no one will know the difference.

The "are you serious?" award goes to this lazy homeowner who bolted the mailbox to the trunk of the tree. Will the mailbox grow taller along with the tree?

Pigs do fly! 

If a mailbox could be considered inhospitable and unwelcoming, this one would be it. It wins the most threatening award. If a storm blows the mail out of the box and it lands in the middle of the cactus, retrieving it would be difficult.

Honorable mentions.

This year's winner of the most exciting mailbox was a surprise.  It was discovered in the middle of nowhere on a rarely traveled country backroad. Being uninhabited didn't matter to this artist. She painted a museum-quality piece of art to lift the spirits of the few passerbyers. It is a bright spot surrounded by isolation. After seeing it, I felt inspired to improve my world. 

This year I will go out on a limb, take a risk and make two New Year's Resolutions.  First, we hope to be able to travel somewhere, anywhere, and hopefully, stumble across more exciting mailboxes. Second, I am going to make my home more beautiful and welcoming. It doesn't matter if the whole world doesn't see, if someone is cheered, it is momentous.

Previous year's exciting mailboxes.

Happy New Year! (2021)

Happy New Year! (2020)

Happy New Year! (2019)

Happy New Year ! (2018)

Happy New Year! 2021

Happy belated New Year.  I couldn't put up my highly anticipated annual New Year's Day Memorable Mailbox post because we were without internet.  It was 2020 - nothing that happened last year was normal anyway, so, better late than never.  The following is an award presentation of the exciting mailboxes I have driven past in 2020 whilst ignoring quarantine. There is nothing illegal about taking the longest route to the grocery store. I have always been a rebel at heart.

The first award is for "the most creative use of material that happens to be on hand."  Bill spied this one first.  He stopped the car in the middle of the road, looked at me, and said, "Don't you see it?" Expecting a huge buck with a massive rack to be hidden in the woods, it took me a while to notice the mailbox. The owners cut a hole in a tree trunk and shoved the mailbox in!  

The first runner-up was either originally a stone mailbox that had been smashed by a car hence the abundance of reflectors across the front and side or the owner plopped the box on a stone wall and cemented it down. What a mess. Even though they tried to hide the unsightly trash can behind it, this piece of art doesn't work. The whole thing was an eyesore not to mention the mailman had to jump a ditch to reach it. 

As for third place in this category, there is a fine line between being creative or just plain lazy.

The next category is, "What is that thing, where did they find it, and what possessed them to make it into a mailbox?"  

This one wins the award for the most threatening mailbox.  It orders all by-passers to:

SLOW DOWN!

THIS NEIGHBORHOOD IS NOT A RACE TRACK!

It worked - we slowed down to gawk at the sign.

This mailbox is awarded the "most lonely."  The street address was #1 but nowhere was there a #2 or any other mailboxes.

There also wasn't a driveway, a house, car tracks into the woods nor powerlines.  We drove up and down the road looking but found nothing.

This is an example of excellent craftsmanship and beautiful artwork that was made by an artist with talent.  The owners were brave to leave the bear sitting beside the road where any thief with the address of 2820 could snatch it.  It is impressive.

These are the honorable mentions.

The best was saved for last and placed in every category.  "What is it?" Does anyone know what this is or what it used to do? "Creative use of materials close at hand." It must have been stored in the barn for decades and the owner was tired of stumbling over it so it was rolled out to the street. 

The workmanship was impressive.  It was built to last forever and appears to be able to do that. It even placed in the "lonely" category because there can't possibly be another mailbox like this in the world. Without being threatened, we slowed down, parked, got out, circled it repeatedly, and took multiple pictures.  Obviously, we gawked.

The winner of the best, most memorable mailbox I drove past in 2020 is this thing...whatever it is.

Here's wishing everyone a dull and boring 2021!  Doubt it will happen but here's wishing anyway.

UPDATE

Reader Rose identified the unknown mailbox as an antique manure spreader! Creative people can think of ideas no one else ever would. I suppose that is why they are creative.

Picture from Pinterest

Previous year's mailbox awards.

Happy New Year! (2018)

Happy New Year! (2019)

Happy New Year! (2020)

Local Ladies' Garden Club, Summer Meeting (2020)

My ladies' garden club has only met once this summer due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  We were invited to tour a local private garden.

The homeowners purchased an old farm years ago which they have lovingly restored. The house was beyond repair so they built a new one.  The outbuildings were preserved, embellished with antiques and a magnificent garden has been planted.

The original well house is on top of an underground spring and it still provides their drinking water.  

The stream flows out one side to form a creek.  Inside the water bubbles up to fill a cistern full of cool clear water.

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Every direction we looked we saw something interesting. The amount of work and love that went into creating this home is awe-inspiring. I am ready for this pandemic to be over so we can meet again and have more fun!

Links to other meetings

Local Ladies' Garden Club, January's Meeting