Blathr Wayne Lorentz

What is Blathr?

Thatʼs the spirit!

Wednesday, December 27th, 2023 Alive 19,237 days

A graph showing Christmas cards sent and received each year from 2004 to 2023

For reasons of anal-retentiveness, I keep a record of the number of Christmas cards we send and receive each year. This year felt particularly bleak, so I put the numbers into a spreadsheet to see if that was true. It was not.

While this was a record year for the number of Christmas cards we sent, and the fewest weʼve ever received, the number received isnʼt all that far off the yearly average. Considering how many of our regular Christmas card penpals have died in recent years, thatʼs not too bad.

A graph showing the ratio of Christmas cards sent to Christmas cards received each year from 2004 to 2023

However, the numbers also show that weʼre putting more effort into Christmas cards than ever. These days we have to send eight Christmas cards for every one card received. It used to be closer to four; and some years less than three. But maybe the mailman will deliver some stragglers this week, and things will balance out.

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