I like to go to the Post Office. It reminds me of summer  visits with my Granna, and riding along in the Cadillac while she ran errands around her small town, and how the clerks at the Post Office smiled to see her because they knew that her postage would always be just right.

She weighed all her letters, that Granna.

I like to go to the gorgeous Post Office downtown, the one built in 1936, because there are old cubbies inside. (Also: there is never anyone there.)

I stopped by recently to buy stamps (something else I love to do), and the clerk spread all of my options across his counter.

When I saw these, I started laughing, and he could not understand why:

He showed me the “love” stamps again — apparently I seem to be the girl who would want those.

“I want the Selena stamps,” I told him.

“I don’t think they’re supposed to be funny,” he said.

“I know,” I said, “I’m laughing only because they’re so much fun. This stamp has a drawing of Carmen Miranda with bananas on her head, and Carmen would want us to be happy.”

In the end, the clerk agreed, and he let me have my stamps. Now, when I slap a stamp on my thank-you notes, I kind of want to dance.

Latin Music Legend postage (oh, Tito, my love) is online here.