My Imaginary Countries

AHZZ

This is a country of vast white beaches, warm tropical water, reefs like aquariums, really cold beer and warm friendly people. Surfing and get-togethers are the national past times and going to the beach is a daily goal. I am quite proud of thinking up this name which comes from amateur (Ham) radio which I did as a kid. The abbreviation for Australia in radio calls was “OZ”. I am sure in a country of millions, many people have thought of this word Ahzz….but I honestly came up with it myself one day. And the cool thing is that it is a turbo version of Ahhhh……… Denomination = S for ounces of sunblock

AWFUL

This is a country where people go when they are sick.  It was founded during the Covid-19 or Coronavirus epidemic of 2020.  Everyone is sick and they all feel awful.  Denomination is in days…..like 5D or 5 days in Awful

AKHI

Steppe country of vast open grasslands similar to the American Midwest before European contact. Denomination = T

BAKKIE

This is a country of blinding heat, huge sand dues and a gorgeous coastline. Every man hopes to have a really cool hacked together one-off pickup called a “Bakkie”

BEBE

This is a place where only babies are allowed citizenship and all the shops are full of baby things. Denomination =D for number of clean fresh diapers

CAMINO

A country of pilgrims on pilgrimages across various landscapes.  The original one was formed from people on the famous Camino de Santiago in Spain but Camino has many folks on many journeys.  The main requirement is that they are on foot or by bicycle or horseback…….travel by cars, trains, planes, boats are not citizens of Camino.

CASCADIA

The land of rainy high mountains and lakes filled with rainbow trout & dolly varden. Denomination = S which is shots of unexposed film. This predates digital photography and will be changing to a standard amount of digital cloud storage.

COPPEI

An extensive landscape of dryland farming especially grains. The name derives from a stream that runs thru some of the richest land. It originates in the mountains to the east and the water is so coveted that multinational corporations ( Nestle’ ) want to buy it.

COSMOS

A world incompassing all worlds — the universe. The postage values are in S=Sagan units –honoring Carl Sagan the famous astronomer who hosted the Cosmos TV series years ago……….

CUTIS

A country I spent a lot of time in where people come with skin diseases to get them treated.

DHARMA BUMS

A place for the “Beats” — like Jack Kerouac and Gary Synder—both of whom manned firelookouts in the North Cascade Mountains. I also worked as a firelookout at those same mountains—Desolation Peak & Sourdough.Denomination = D for days on the loose. You might be interested to look up my other website which details my rotation on top of Desolation Peak where Jack Kerouac spend a summer  desolationpeak.com

DOMINO

A nation of people celebrating their birthday. They are given stamps with the dots indicating their age. The national pastime is the game of dominos. Denomination = Y for years. Donald Evans had a country of Domino too.

EVANS

A country of stamp painters who took the name of the most famous one of all – Donald Evans

EVO

Distant lands where evolution is more plainly visible. Denomination = G for genes. Stamps in this country evolve rapidly and sometimes the denomination symbol is deleted but never the amount.

FAUNA

This country mirrors one celebrated by Donald Evans and originates in the stamps of the Island of Lundy in the Bristol Channel which features puffins.

FLAK

A country at war in the skies with bombers and fighters—often known as “hell five miles up” since combat is undertaken at 30,000 feet+. Denomination is “S”=shells

GRTE

A country of mountains thrusting straight out of a plain. Very dramatic. The name is derived from the US NPS abbreviation for the Grand Tieton National Park

GUMBO

In the Southern US — Gumbo brings to mind a stew……but in the Canadian Midwest — it brings to mind a thick clay mud. I spent some summer weeks around Grand Prairie, Alberta in Canada and the soil there is very thick and black and sticks to your “gumboots” tenaciously. There are times when you walk 10 feet and have 2 pounds of gumbo sticking to each boot / shoe. Denomination = C which is 100 g of wheat.

HAUTE ROUTE/Hv

Is a land of high old European mountains and trails with yellow directional signs. The Hv is a reference to another name for Switzerland which is Helvetica. Denomination = a shape—a triangle laying on its side. The value is a similar shape as the trail signs because the mail is carried over the trails.

HO’ ZHO’

This is a stark, beautiful and expansive land. It demands and enforces a balanced life. The cornerstone is honest love of people around you. If you not doing that ——> you will feel it deeply here. Like the wind, it cannot be ignored. It cries for adjustment. The answer is in the giving.

IORANG

A country of dense jungle populated by primates. Denomination = B for # of bananas.

KANJI

A densely populated country of industrious people who love seafood, rice, gambling, art and cherry blossoms.

KATABATICA

A country of ice and continual winter. The abbreviation for the country is K which is a reference to the Kelvin temperature scale. A patient of mine hunts meteorites on the Antarctic shelf. He took some of my pigeons with him one year. Barry Lopez, an American author, was on that expedition and I saw later used the same name. I suspect he got it from seeing some of my stamps. Denominaton = E which represents one quart of aircraft fuel for cold weather (Jet B)

KENTE

A place for weavers of African Kente cloth. Denomination = B

KIVA

This is a sunny desert climate with small villages arranged around a ceremonial pit known by archeologists as the “kiva”. Denomination = U placed under the value #.