Photo Challenge #4: Letterbox

Really?  A letterbox?  This one seemed a little strange, but we went with it.

Letterbox - Betsy

Image Notes:  One of Calvin's kindergarten assignments was to create his own Valentine box for the friendly greetings and treats he would receive from his friends.  And if you know Calvin at all...you know the boy likes bears.  Teddy bears, real bears...any kind of bear you can imagine gets his attention.  So, we knew that his Valentine box had to incorporate bears in some way.  I had the epiphany that it should resemble a bear cave.  The idea simmered in my mind until it was the night before the assignment was due.  This seems to be how we do things these days...last minute and under pressure.  (sigh)  Without any gray paper in the house (of course), Calvin and I colored white card stock with crayons and cut out irregular circles and ovals to serve as the rocks that create the cave.  We glued them on all sides of the box we miraculously found.   That is, until it was too far past Calvin's bedtime.  He toddled off to bed and I finished the letterbox.  I added the bear at the cave opening holding a cleverly worded sign "Have a BEARY nice Valentine's Day".    It really turned out pretty cute and Calvin was proud to take it in to school the next day.  As for this image, I really liked the sun streaming in the window and wanted to capture this glorious letterbox bathed in its light.  The plants in the background are rich green succulents that Calvin and Violet were treated to by their doting father,  

Letterbox - Marcus

Image Notes:   Marcus took a picture of our actual mailbox.  I remember when we bought this mailbox;  it was a replacement to its identical forerunner.  The original had a run-in with a neighbor's house guest's truck - a situation that irked Marcus, as I recall.  There really isn't anything special about this mailbox...except to say that my kids love the responsibility of running out to it to get the mail for us.  Bemused, I watch from our bay window while Violet or Calvin enjoy a bit of freedom...walking out to the mailbox by themselves...getting the mail out of it...dropping the mail on the way back to the house... scurrying to pick it up before the wind carries it down the street.  The color contrast on the mailbox made this image particularly striking...the bright red, the dark black, and the frosted gray.  Marcus and I both liked how he captured the sunlight reflecting on the frost and the bright blue sky that this February day offered.