Trio of nifty Postcrossing arrivals

Here's a rundown of three recent arrivals to my mailbox via Postcrossing. (As an aside, I've been trying to figure out if there's a way to send a card to a Postcrossing user in Syria. The United States Postal Service suspended mail service that war-torn nation in 2013, but I learned yesterday there might be a way to send something "via Egypt." We shall see.)

Above: This card is from Helen, an artist who lives near Kyiv, Ukraine. She used a combination of calligraphy and neatly done cursive in her message and wrote: "I am a teacher of drawing in children, love art, sewing and listening music." Not a bad job on that message, given that English is her third language. The card introduced me to Ukraine's Olesko Castle, which dates to the late 13th or early 14th century. John III Sobieski, who went on to become King of Poland, was born in a quiet corner of the castle on August 17, 1629, while a thunderstorm and bloody battle with Tatars raged outside. Olesko Castle today serves as a museum.

Above: This postcard is from Svenja in Germany. She writes: "Greetings from Herne in the west of Germany! I live in an area called 'Ruhrgebiet,' named by the river Ruhr. Here are many big and small cities near together like one huge city." The postcard from Svenja actually features an American artist, Mark Ryden. The image is just a detail of the extremely vertical 2006 oil painting "General Sherman," which is part of Ryden's Tree Show. This is actually one of Ryden's least-bizarre images; surrealism, pop culture and some incredible strangeness run through his work. I have zero idea what to make of his 2006 painting "Fetal Trapping in Northern California."

Above: Last up is this postcard from Eudora in Taiwan, who writes: "I am 15 and I live with my family in the north of Taiwan. This card is a handmade one I bought at a Sunday market. Isn't it beautiful?" Indeed, it is beautiful. The artist who created this goes by the name Princess Cada and has a Facebook page and online store. When I wrote and told her that one of her pieces of artwork showed up at my house in southcentral Pennsylvania, she replied: "So happy to know my art work is travel overseas and so glad to receive your kind message. I will keep drawing and hopping [sic] to share more colors to the world."

Sharing more colors to the world is a good goal for all of us, don't you think?