Blossoming plum under the moon ...

... is one in a series of thirty beautiful hanging scrolls (Doshoku Sai-e, or Colorful realm of living beings) painted by Ito Jakuchu, a Japanese painter of the mid-Edo period.

Kite Flying

I simply love this card. I have a weakness for kites since Hosseini's The Kite Runner. My friend writes that, in the Korean culture, people believe that bad luck and illness are sent away as kites fly high in the sky.

Views from New York City

These iconic images of NYC are simply lovely.

The Church of the Resurrection, St Petersburg, Russia

This marvelous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881. During the second half of his reign, Alexander II grew wary of the dangers of his system of reforms, having only barely survived a series of attempts on his life, including an explosion in the Winter Palace and the derailment of a train. He was assassinated in 1881 by a group of revolutionaries, who threw a bomb at his royal carriage.

The Statue of Roland, Bremen, Germany

September comes with some great new postcards. This nice postcard represents the statue of Roland ( one of them) in Bremen, Germany. The legend says that Bremen will remain free and independent as long as Roland stands watching over the city. It is alleged that a second Roland statue is kept hidden in the town hall's underground vaults. This can be quickly installed, should the original fall.