The best postcard ever?

I think so.

And look, it came all the way from Thailand, with elephants on the stamp!

Post always makes my day, but this especially so. It arrived yesterday, having confused our secretary immensely along the way, and it has been making me grin ever since.

My lovely friend Ed and I (who I don't believe reads this, so there is just no point being rude about him here) have been engaged in a coded correspondence for some time. We send each other messages to decode, with some kind of cunning clue as to what the code is. For no reason other than playfulness and for the fun of the puzzle. However, we seem to have trailed off - my last cipher was clearly just too brilliant - which is a sad state of affairs and hopefully to be reversed.

Meanwhile, I mentioned this to my lovely friend Nathan, who seems to have been rather taken with the idea, and somehow ended up vaguely promising me a coded missive. And here it is! All the way from Thailand to Mexico, and all the more exciting because - though I knew what it was at once - I wasn't definitely expecting it.

I haven't cracked it yet. I am puzzled, and a little frustrated, and intrigued, and thoroughly enjoying the challenge.

Hurray for the post, and hurray for childish games!