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 #.
LAPA
A vast desert with red sand and big game animals from our childhood books, whose name derived from a native word for a thatched hut. Denomination is not specified as Lapa only uses numbers to indicate stamp value.
LA VITA / LA DOLCE VITA
A country of sidewalk cafes and morning cappacinos and the sweet life
LINES
A magnificent country which venerates the wonderful curves of the female body. Denomination = “n” for # of nights.
M:11
This is a watery country of thousands of low-lying small smooth rocky islands…too many to count. It is a paddler’s paradise and invites one to put in, set up camp and lying back in the sun on the smooth rock after a refreshing swim. The fishing is excellent but storms frequently come up suddenly where the sky turns inky black. The country is named after the Wild Duck Cluster designated M:11 in the catalog of Messier’s celestial objects. The capital city is Tom Thomson after the famous Canadian painter. Denomination= t for Thomson units.
MOTU
Is a country of tropical islands characterized by carefree sunny warm days, palm trees, ukuleles, long sandy beaches, and pastel fragrant nights. Denomination = C.
NARI
This is Iran spelled backwards, the land of the veil. Denomination = “bent T”.
NEVE / NEIGE
Snow, more snow, quietly falling……a land for lovers of winter; a good ski, snowshoe or sledding and then a warm fire, hearty companions and hot meal that has simmered all day. Denomination = the value is always 25 to commemorate Christmas, the favorite time of the year in Neve. They shut everything down for the annual holiday from Christmas to New Years—- closing the borders and all but essential services.
PAU
A land of rest where the national pastime is to lay around. It is derived from their neighbor, Hawaii’s expression for “done”. Denomination = “p” for pieces of fish and D for days allowed…..
PITERAQ
Named for a katabatic wind coming off a continental ice mass. Very cold place when the wind blows but when it stops— the quiet can be immense.
RELIEF REEF
This is a place of active rest where people go on adventures. The capital is called One More Day. The only unhappiness is when you have to leave. Denomination is D for drinks.
REPUBLICA BALSA
The land of model airplanes particularly old time ones built of balsa. Denomination = the thickness of balsa sheets — 1/32 “, etc.
SEVEN SUMMITS
This place encompasses the highest peaks of each continent in the world. Denomination= P for the number of the Peak on the stamp in order of altitude. #1 is the lowest which is Carstensz Pyramid in New Guinea, and # 7 is for the highest, which is Everest.
SKOOKUM
Ocean, islands, and thick temperate rainforests distinguish this country, the name is derived from the Chinook tribe that is indigenous there and means “just right”. Denomination = P for a piece of fish weighing 100g. Skookum was also the name of our family dog, a Corgi, that the kids grew up with.
SQUIZ
Temperature forests with a spacious coastline good for fishing, sailing, surfing and sloth. This is a country of immense god given beauty and bounty
STEENS
An arid land with dry white playas in the fall created by uplifted mountains blocking the rain. The landscape is mostly covered with sagebrush and bunchgrass. Very hot in summer and freezing in winter. The denomination is a circle with a vertical line thru it indicating one arrowhead. These are Native American Indian artifacts one occasionally finds out on the land……a physical form that can be “mined” –predating crypto curriencies.
SUDLICHT
A word I made up using german = “sweat light” or insights coming during intense exercise. Denomination = P for units of perspiration.
TAHUA
Is a country of the Andes and is short for the Quechua name for the Inca Empire which was Tahuantinsuyo. Denomination = K’intu which stands for a standardized amount of cocoa leaves
TWO DOT
Vast ranching country with miles of pasture and high peaks on the horizon to the west Denomination = G for 10 grams of tobacco.
ZEN
A special culture and landscape for mindfulness. Denomination is K = koans.