Letter Writing

One thing you never hear or read about any longer is cattle rustlers. While I can't say definitively that cattle rustling never occurs any longer, I do believe I am on safe enough ground to file such an act under the category of "rare." People still shop lift, car jack, pick pockets and even snatch purses. But, at the very least, spending the day on the range stealing another person's cattle no longer comes even close to being near the top of anyone's to-do list. By the way, in case there's any doubt, I want it known that I am ok with that. But there is another act that rarely seems to occur these days that I do miss. It's letter writing. When is the last time most any one sat down and wrote a letter to another person? My guess is it has been a long time.

Writing a letter seems to becoming one of those things that people used to do. Nowadays, of course, people email, tweet or send out a message on facebook. It is not my intent here to criticize any of those or other forms of social media. They have expedited the act of communication in ways that not that many years ago seemed unimaginable. Social media allows us to communicate instantly with friends, family and contacts all over the world. This is no small thing and it is very positive. Letter writing is harder, more time consuming and requires more thought. This is why I consider it to be more personable and, ultimately, more effective.

There is something about taking a pen to paper that gives one pause. You want your handwriting to be legible, for one thing. And you want what you say to be understood. Computers enable us to delete or edit what we write with very little difficulty. Letters, on the other hand, are more challenging in that regard. And then there is the matter of the content itself. By their very nature, letters are generally not communiques that one can dash off as easily as messages being sent via forms of social media. Consequently, my sense is letters are more apt to be content rich. Plus, I believe people on the receiving end of letters because they know the time and effort that goes into preparing one and then sending it out. To the dwindling letter writers still in the world, then, I give a salute and a hearty appreciation. I admire what you do.