McSwagger

My name is Eric and I live in a small town called Astoria in the northwest of the state of Oregon, USA. Astoria is near the mouth of the mighty Columbia River and one can see many freighters, and even cruise ships, making their way to ports upriver every day.

I recently moved to Astoria from a town about twenty minutes away across the river in the state of Washington. I still receive my mail there. Checking my mail there is also a good excuse to check in on friends.

I work doing Maintenance on affordable housing properties in the area. My maintenance workshop and office are in an old hospital here in Astoria that was converted to apartments for the elderly and disabled in the 1980's. The old steam boilers, now out of use but too big to move, still sit in the basement.

My avatar is Bigfoot (or Sasquatch), or rather a full-sized wood carving of what the local artist believes a Bigfoot looks like. The area in the USA I am from, called the Pacific Northwest, is known for its many Bigfoot sightings. Some say Bigfoot does not exist. I say he does because I like to believe there is some wonder left in this world of ours.

If there are local legends, myths, ghost stories, and folklore in your area I would love to hear about them.

I have lived in both big cities and small towns, but I find that I feel most comfortable in smaller towns. One of the things I miss about living in the city, though, is the choice of different foods and restaurants available. One of the things I love about living in small towns is the closeness to nature and the ability to get to recreation areas quickly.

My hobbies are sending and receiving postcards, of course, seeing new places, reading, exploring in the woods, and foraging for wild mushrooms.
I know about geocaching and really want to get started on it as a new hobby.

I was born and raised in this part of the USA, though I did have the opportunity to spend a couple months in Barcelona when I was a student and time in Panama when I was in the American military.

While stationed in Panama I had the opportunity to travel around the island countries of the Caribbean Sea and to a few different countries in Central America. It is a time in my life I value and will never forget. The people I met along the way were amazing.

I really enjoy learning about new places and would hope in the future I can travel more. Sometimes I just pick a destination for a driving trip, with my only real limits being time and money. I find that local, small heritage museums and Chambers of Commerce, as well as just talking to the locals, are good ways to learn about a new place.

My kids are all adults now and doing well. I am very proud of them.

Thank you in advance for your postcard. I look forward to hearing from you :-) I don't care what kind of postcard you send, but I am a fan of signatures because every signature is unique. Feel free to sign your name in your own language. Get creative as you want to be with text, images, stickers.