I could see that my mail had been tampered with - the tape indicated that the third lot of stamps send my way by Dean Brown had been opened by MAF, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
But they did a neat job, and even stuck on an official sticker, adding to the envelope's interest value. I wonder, was the package randomly selected? Or might a dog have sniffed it out - been intrigued by the musty aroma of old stamps. Maybe Bruno would place Dean in the 'truffley' category of stamps collectors?
Another explanation might be that if Dean is a keen gardener, perhaps the scent of various herbs and spices might have leapt from his hands into the envelope. I was half expecting to see a sprig or two of parsley or coriander lurking inside.
But no, I admit that I was the one to garnish the above photo. The contents of Dean's letter consisted of a pile of old USA and a cluster of glassine bags with yet more stamps I'll need a year off from work to nose through (sniffing each stamp). Luckily I'm doing just that - taking a year of 'sabbatical' - in 2011. I mean, if the universe stops in 2012, when else am I ever going to get the chance?
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