A couple of weeks ago, Ralph and I flew to Nebraska of all places. Ralph's Dad's side of the family originated there, and after some of his cousins made the trek there to explore a couple of years ago, our interest was peaked.
You see, the family still owns the original sod house, or "soddy" as they are called, on one beautiful large piece of property, in the tiny town of Calloway, (population around 600 these days) which is pretty much the dead center spot of the United States. Not only have they preserved this soddy, but they have worked hard to turn the 350 acre property into a museum of sorts. A sod house is a small cabin or home built from bricks made from actual dirt and grass (hence the name, sod house) It looks just like it sounds, although the green of the sod of course is long gone, so it looks more like solid dirt bricks.
We were invited to actually stay in the soddy, and we spent a fabulous time with a second cousin and new friend who showed us a fabulous time in quaint little Calloway, and the little neighboring town of Arnold.
Of course we were sending a thank you note for the hospitality, but our host had gone to such lengths to make sure our visit was memorable, that I wanted to be sure he felt the same love in return. I had the idea to order a view master for him using a few of the photos we took on our trip. (Remember when I did this for Ralph's big six-oh?) In less than a week I had the view master in hand, ready to send off to our host.
I googled quotes on sod houses (You know I google everything.) and sure enough, found a perfect one.
(Eerily appropriate and thought provoking quote for our times, isn't it?) I typed and printed it to adorn the top of the box, and added an additional quote for inside the box.
I created a couple of custom hang tags using a couple more photos, and used yet another picture as the backdrop for creating my own custom stationery. If you don't have a cheesy print program like I do, just print a photo and then put the paper back in your printer and print your typed note over it, or hand write your note on it!)
I think second cousin Cecil will be feeling the love when he opens out little thank you box, and future visitors lucky enough to stay in the soddy can enjoy the fun of the old-school view master.
It doesn't take much to take a simple thank you note from average to memorable. Next time you're sending one after a trip, consider incorporating photos from your trip. All it took was a little extra time, but it was so well spent.
