My first mailing today was to my aunt and uncle – an interesting pair. I believe I have never met two more different people.

The second letter was to my wife. A Valentine, Austen style. I’ve spent two weeks preparing to send this letter. I ordered sealing wax. I went through the tutorial and aged my paper appropriately (coffee, not tea). I practiced sealing on a variety of scrap papers and even on a letter to a friend of mine. Things were looking good. I wrote the letter. I folded it. And then… I tried to seal it. It turns out – and I already knew this – I had mistakenly purchased cheap wax that strings and is prone to catch on fire. I’d practiced so this shouldn’t be an issue. Of course, therefore, it was an issue. The wax on my letter caught fire and burned through part of the letter, the wax splattered all over the place, so by the end rather than a neat seal reminiscent of more genteel times – I have what a friend of mine kindly referred to as spilled jam.