Today's puzzle takes us to Texas. I accomplished one of my last holiday chores on Wednesday: the mailing of the annual photo card and letter. I don't send nearly as many as I used to, and I haven't gotten them out before Christmas in many years, but I do always try to get them out by New Year's. When I was a kid my dad would start thinking about the card as early as October, either looking back through the photos from the year's travels or shooting up a roll of film trying to come up with a suitable picture of my sister and me. I think the most memorable photo was the year we included the dog ... in the mailbox. But the picture was only the first part. Then there was the writing of the letter, chronicling everyone's activities, and the preparing of the envelopes. My dad had an elaborate file with individual cards for each address upon which was also recorded what years we had sent and/or received cards from that person. There was also a system of turning cards so they stuck up out of the box if they merited attention for whatever reason ... I don't remember all the details. My job, probably starting in maybe junior high, was the addressing of the envelopes ... at first by hand, and then on the IBM selectric typewriter. I did them so many times that many of the addresses and zip codes were permanently imprinted in my brain. That's probably how I recognized, while geocaching in California, that I had found myself on the street where my dad's cousin used to live. These days, it's a much faster process, but I can't see this tradition making it to the next generation. Before long I'm betting the only holiday letters will be:
Tomorrow we'll ...
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