On the way to the postal agency

Once upon a time letters were a way to keep in touch. They made it possible to have some sort of contact with those family members who had stayed in Scotland when my direct ancestors travelled first to Nova Scotia and then to Waipu on New Zealand's North Island. I don't have any letters that they may have sent or received.

S does have copies of letters her grandmother and great grandmother sent to and received from family members in different parts of the world. When I spent a year living and working London as part of my training, letters between me in London and my parents in New Zealand took less than a week, compared with two or three months by boat in the earlier times.

All those letters passed through at least one Post Office. An important building in every village, town and city. There were many transactions that could only be done there. As well as postage. 

My first awareness of the passing of Post Offices came when I had a couple of weeks visiting the mental health services in Madison Wisconsin, and there was one Post Office for the whole city and it was only open occasionally. Sending a postcard or three home to wife and children was an expedition.

We now have almost no post offices, and they have been renamed Post Shops. Because they sell things (which include stamps and other things) rather than provide a service. And in many parts of Auckland a more restricted (but more clearly a postal service) is provided by agencies. The Grey Lynn one is in a pharmacy, and the old Post Office building is now one more coffee bar amongst the many.

This evening after work I had to take some letters and a report for couriering, to the postal agency for posting. On my walk there, I saw and photographed the setting sun. 

Rather apt, I think. The State Owned Enterprise known as New Zealand Post is gradually and markedly reducing the postal service it provides, looking to concentrate on parcels and courier services. Few people write personal letters, and even businesses tend to communicate by electronic methods, including sending bills and receiving payment.

As e-mail grows, and communicating by way of the various sites on the internet, and texting and twitter and whatever else, putting pen to paper is a novelty.

The sun is setting on the art of writing letters.