This is a photo of a member of the Offensive Guard of the Ukrainian Defense and Security Forces.  Kharkiv was the site of heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russia forces in 2022. By February, the governor of the oblast declared that Russian soldiers were repelled from the area. In late February much of the south-east part of the city was destroy and on fire by massive shelling by Russian forces. UNESCO reported that 27 major historical buildings were destroyed.   In March, Human Rights Watch reported that on the fourth day of the invastion, Russian forces used cluster munitions in three areas of the city. Cluster munitions are meant to create a lot of damage without any precision.  By May, Ukrainian soldiers began a counter-offensive to drive the Russians out and back towards the border. By mid-May, Russia withdrew their forces from the city, but Russian artillery and rockets remained within range of the city and the city continues to suffer from shelling and miss...

This is a 2004 Hong Kong film entitled 2046.  It is a loose sequeal to the film Days of Being Wild from 1990 and In the Mood for Love  from 2000. Tony Leung Chiu-wai plays the male protagonist, and Maggie Cheung plays the female protagonist.  2046  was nominated for the Golden Palm at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. 

Funny little Christmas cartoon. The three wise men of the Christian nativity story are shown as parcel delivery men from three different delivery companies.  Leverkusen is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine, near Cologne. To the north is Düsseldorf. The pharmaceutical giant Bayer is located here. They sponsor the local football club, Bayer 04 Leverkusen. They compete in the Bundesliga They were created in 1904 and founded by employees of Bayer. The club was also home to athletics, gymnastics, basketball, field handball, rowing, tennis, and hockey. In 1999 the football side seperated from the club. Bayer is the defending champions of the Bundesliga. 

A great Pacific Northwest postcard with Sasquatch (Bigfoot) in the background. Sasquatch is a mythical creature said to inhabit the forests in Pacific Northwest in the United States, and in British Columbia in Canada.  The writer says she was in Seattle when she sent this, but is from Las Vegas. However, since last November, she has moved to Florida and has retired from nursing. 

A beautiful painting of a traditional Ukrainian farmhouse. The sender describes in her biography about the lives of Ukrainians being divided into "before" and "after," after, of course, being the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia. She credits Postcrossing as one of the positives in her life.  Glory to Ukraine! Slava Ukraini.  Слава Україні!

 

My brother-in-law would appreciate this painting of a red-bellied woodpecker. It was painted by Heather Baumbach .  The red-bellied woodpecker is found mostly in the eastern United States. It can also be found as far north as eastern Canada. English naturalist Mark Catesby first described and illustrated the red-bellied woodpecker in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands between 1729-1732. He gave it the Latin name Picus ventre rubro . Today it is called Melanerpes carolinus . 

This is a wonderful painting by Spencer Frederick Gore (1878-1914), a British painter of landscapes, music-hall scenes, and interiors. This particular painting is hanging in the New Walk Museum in Leicester.  Gore was the first president of the Camden Town Group - a group of English post-impressionist artists founded in 1911 and remained active to 1913. It was decided that there should only be 16 members and they must be men.  Gore died at the age of 35 in Richmond, Surrey.  Kleinblittersdorf is a village of about 11 000, situated on the river Saar. Across the river is Grosbliederstroff, France.

This is an ad card for a financial institution. On the front the German translates to "it's time." The sender is part of a group called Familia English Group. He describes the group as a social instution for people who struggle with a variety of mental health issues. With social workers, the group participates in a lot of different activities and courses to learn new thins, which gives them a structured daily routine to work on getting back into society. One of the courses is English and participating in Postcrossing is a part of that. 

This is a great card. I can't tell if it is an illustration or a photograph. It is a picture of a canal lock.  London is home to the  London Canal Museum . It is located in the King's Cross area of London. Th museum is devoted to the history of London's canals and opened in 1992.  The museum's main exhibitions include: History of the London canals, the Regents Canal in particular; Water and Locks - canal engineering; Boats and Cargoes Methods of traction by horses, internal combustion engines, and miniature tractors; Carlo Gatti and the ice trade; Social history of canal workers; lifting and handling; and the decorative arts of the canals known as "roses and castles." There is also a guided trip for 50 minutes through the Islington Tunnel, Little Venice, and Victoria Park.  I would love to spend a few weeks travelling the canals around England and I know my dad would join me. 

This card come to us from Victoria. I've been to Victoria several times and the downtown area is beautiful. This card features hand signals of football (soccer) referees. The top half shows some of the calls such as a direct free kick, an indirect free kick, issuing a yellow and red card, and the play on signal. The bottom half are signals the assistant referees make including direction of the throw in, substitution needed, ball out of play, and offside. I officiated football for several years when I was younger and enjoyed it for the most part. There were challenges at each level. At the men's league level, many of the players acted like their were professional footballers and likes to 'assist' me with calls. I once sent off two players for a minor scrap and one of the players was an officiating colleague of mine! I still remember my first referee's clinic when I was 13 or 14. The old instructor, who had a lot of great advice, said that you should treat every game ...

 

A beautiful card, I just don't know of what. There is no inscription on the back. Perhaps it is of Bremen, which is on the banks of the Weser - Germany's largest river.  Bremen is home to Werder Bremen, who complete in the Bundesliga. They were founded back in 1899 as Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. Last season, Bremen finished in 9th place of 18 teams in the Bundesliga. 

I love sports themed postcards and it's always interesting to get a photo of an old stadium. In this case, County Stadium in Milwaukee.  County Stadium was completed in 1953. It was built in the hopes it would attract a Major League Baseball team. Until they got a MLB team, the minor league Milwaukee Brewers, who played in AAA American Association and were a minor league team for the Boston Braves, would play here. The minor league team didn't get a chance and the Boston Braves, who struggled for years with attendance, decided to move themselves to Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Braves began playing in the National League and played their first home game on April 14 against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Braves won their first game 3-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning when Bill Bruton hit a solo home run. In their first season the Braves set the National League attendance record of 1.8 million fans.  The Braves, however, only played in Milwaukee until 1965 when they were relocated to ...

This card comes from Farglory Ocean Park  遠雄海洋公園, in Shoufeng. It opened in December 2002. In its 51 hectares it contains marine parks and aquariums. The main attractions include the Dolphin Show, Fly Across the Ocean, and Pirate of El Dorado. I am assuming that the illustration of Sissy is one of the parks otters or sea lions. 

The second card from illustrator Inge Look. This one is coming from Hof, in eastern Germany.  Hof is found near the Czech border on the river Saale. There are about 50 000 people living here.  During the Cold War, Hof was of special interest. It was located near the Czech and West German borders. There was also a radar site nearby. On the West Germany side was the United States Army 2nd Arm ored Cavalry Regiment and the 511th Military Intelligence Battalion. Hof was also near the old Berlin-Munich autobahn, which was thought of to be a possible invasion route by the Warsaw Pact forces if the Cold War ever became hot. 

This is great Christmas postcard with a  Inge Löök  illustration entitled Tonttu joulukahvilla. On the front it translates to Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  The sender is from Kuopio in central Finland. A city of about 126 000 people. Nationally, Kuopio is known as the most important study cities and centres of attraction and growth. 

The sender is actually from Belarus who was working in Macao at the time. She mentions she also lived and worked in Kazakhstan, rested in Russia and Vietnam, and then to Macao.  Her card is a painting of the Grand Lisboa  新葡京 Hotel. It is a 47-floor hotel in  Sé, a parish in Macao. It was fully opened in December 2008 and is a hotel, casino, and has several restaurants. There are 800 gaming tables and 1000 slot machines. It is the tallest bui lding in Macao and is a distinctive part of the skyline. 

A tarot card from Wisconsin. The sender writes, "I send this card because it applies to my life right now. Unfortunately not is a good way, but adversity make us stronger, right? The Nine of Swords is a very negative sign to have. It is believed that it being turned can be instigated by others, as it might be coming up to show that one has been cruel to someone nearby. This card often shows a figure sitting up in bed in worry, guilt, or pure anguish. Above the person lies their fears, hanging above them in an airy or dreamy way. This can be represented through demons, devils, or even a heavily agitated night sky (as is the case on this card). Often there are sharp objects such as swords or knives, representing that a persons fears may pierce or stab through them. The swords could also mean that they are there to help the person cut through their own difficulties. I would be curious to know why the sender believes he deserves this card. It's been a year since I received it, I w...

This is a picture of Herra Hakkarainen (Mr. Clutterbuck), a sleepwalking goat, from the children's series of books called  Koiramäki (Dog Hill) by Mauri Kunnas. The series features anthropomorphic animals led by dogs. In the 1970s, his series was being compared to Richard Scarry and his series of books. As he became more popular and produced even more work the similarities between the two subsided.