LEWIS, OUR NEW POSTIE

When I was out walking a few weeks ago I saw an older postman on our round, obviously teaching a much younger postie the ropes.  I stopped to chat to them and was introduced to the new young man, named Lewis.  The older postman told me that Lewis would now be our regular postie, so I said we would all be really happy about that, as since our other one had left sometime ago, we hadn’t had a regular one.  

Ever since, whenever I saw Lewis coming round with the mail, I would pop out and speak to him - and as our kitchen is in the front of the house, I would often be working in there, so saw him quite often.  It was lovely to chat to him and I would often give him a mint, especially in the cold weather, to help him on his way. 

There are only four houses in our cul de sac, so if something was being delivered to number 21 and he walked across from there diagonally to number 23, I knew we had nothing, but I still used to go out and chat to him.  Today I actually gave him a whole box of mints, and you would have thought I had given him a £10 note - he was so thrilled - which just proves that a kind act doesn’t have to involve large sums of money but just a little bit of kindness.

Today, however, Lewis was obviously going to deliver something to us and when I asked if he had anything exciting, he said that he had a card and a package!

A couple of days ago, I had had a message from a Blip friend to say that when a package arrived in the post for me, I had to open it immediately.  I was very excited - so when Lewis handed me the package and the card, I mentioned that it was my birthday on Boxing Day so Mr. HCB would grab any cards addressed to just me and “squirrel them away” so that I didn’t open them before the big day! However, I told him that I had instructions from a friend to open the package immediately.   I could see that the card was addressed to us both, although the package was addressed only to me, but I guessed it was the one my Blip friend had told me about.

We said our goodbyes to Lewis and I came indoors to open the package.  I daresay you are wondering what was in it - but you won’t find out until Saturday, so will have to read my SS Blip - however, I have rung my Blip friend to say “Thank You”.

I often tease Lewis about still wearing shorts, even in this very cold weather, and it was freezing today, with a very cold wind - so I asked him if I could take a photograph of his legs and feet.  I must confess that he looked rather non-plussed, but after I had explained about Blip, he was fine - and I think having given him a box of mints helped!   Here you have Lewis’s shorts, legs and socks and he is even wearing regulation “Royal Mail” shoes/trainers, although I’m not sure whether the socks are "Royal Mail" issue! 

I thought this Haiku was perfect for a Postman:

Advent Haiku
Another cold day;
hibernation appeals,
but we still trudge on.
Kathryn Epps