From Zach Charles:

Good Autumn Postcard-ians and non-Postcard-ians alike,
I wanted to share a few thoughts on this summer’s fest and, finally, the final product of the tidal chart! Here is my reflection upon completing my last card.

8/24/23 Finished my last postcard. I felt stuck… because I had begun it inside, not down by the tide. (+ the insane demolition noises coming from the school). Let it be known I am dishonest! But as Capt Sparrow said, “I’m a dishonest wan, and a dishonest wan you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It’s the honest ones you want to watch out for…” Ha. I paid for it though, hitting the block, + the moment I took it outside, it released. I am, indeed, quite happy with what I composed. While we’re on the beach, I want to add I feel I have an anchor there, now. Visiting the tide so consistently, with a very specific intention + attention, I have realized that if I close my eyes and begin to breathe with control, it is now quite easy to find myself sitting on Alki beach, listening to the tide, and watching light glitter on its surface. I think this also fits nicely with a [visualizing] practice I have been developing of focusing on a single cormorant, far away in the sky, as a technique to enter a meditative state along with intentional, slow breathing. Back to dishonesty, this mental image is what I have been meditating on before composing, if I am away camping, for example, and I wasn’t able to be down at the beach in the early morning. (I also was not out there at exactly 6:26 every AM, but close enough…)

I have not edited the tidal chart together yet [This is still partly true. I did not do the editing, but the chart is done! Many thanks to my lovely partner for doing this for me.], but I have hoarded up to eight cards at a time and they look -AMAZING- next to each other. I think it was 35 or 36 cards [36] in total. I am stoked for the final product [I am now stoked for you to see the final product].

• I was quite stunned with many of the cards I received. One of my favorites was a big card with one big stamp in the center declaring, “Incoming Poem.”

• The depth of insight into a person as they write their poem granted by the reading of that poem…what an energetic moment of connection.

• I began a postcard connection with a friend from outside the fest because I decided to make an extra card to send to them.

• I felt much joy in the giving and receiving of the PPPs.

• And this happened:

I will end it here with a moment of gratitude. To the Alki tide; to the Postcard Fest; to Paul, who brought me into the Postcard fold; to my fellow Postcard Project Board members; and to the Cascadia Bioregion, for supporting my life these past two years; and to my partner, Savannah, for helping me see my projects through, among many other things.