A Race Under Open Skies

To you, running under a clear sky,

Welcome to the Storm Post Office. January 1991, Australia. A sky-blue envelope, a generous sporting slab-serif title, an illustration of a stadium in cream-coloured geometry; red-earth contour bands circle around it, a small olive-green botanical vignette sits in one corner, a sewn paper number strip runs along the edge, and a little sun emblem shines.

In a very old book, someone looked around beneath the sun and said: “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.” — Ecclesiastes 9:11, King James Version (1611)

So what is a race for? Perhaps so that a crowd can sweat and pant under one sky and laugh together at the finish line. Winning is left to luck; what we leave for you is a sheet of paper and a pen.

High sky, long road, take your time

Storm Post Office

January 1991 · Australia

P.S. Take a hat. The Australian sun is not polite.