Dear Elisa:

HAPPY 45th BIRTHDAY!

Woodblock Print 45 of 100 Views of Edo (1856-1858) by Japanese painter & printmaker Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858) is titled "Yatsumi Bridge" (1856) Notes from Brooklyn Museum Beverly Rose: Hybrid Tea Pink blend Blooms with 45 petals Diameter: 3.75 inches Height: 6 feet 7 inches Bred in 1999, Germany by Wilhelm Kordes III Spring is coming, just three weeks away! May Ando Hiroshige's Woodcut #45 with scenic view of Mt. Fuji and the Hybrid Tea Beverly Rose with 45 petals bring you much joyfulness, beauty, wonder, and peace in your 45th year.

Lao Tzu (604-517 BC), Tao Te Ching, Verse 45: True perfection seems imperfect, yet it is perfectly itself. True fullness seems empty, yet it is fully present. True straightness seems crooked. True wisdom seems foolish. True art seems artless. The Master allows things to happen. She shapes events as they come. She steps out of the way and lets the Tao speak for itself. — translated by Stephen Mitchell     Tao Te Ching, Harper Perennial, N.Y. (1994)

Lao Tzu (604 B.C.-517 B.C.) Chinese silk painting from British Museum

Foreign Postage Stamps with 45 denomination:

France 1244, 0.45 Franc; International Flower Show (issued 4-14-1969)

France 143, 45 Francs; Sower with Sun (issued 11-1-1926)

France 190, 45 Francs; Louis Pasteur (issued 8-7-1924)

France 363, 45 Francs; Mercury & Caduceus (issued 1-17-1939)

Cyprus 135, 45 Piastre Cypress Tree (issued 12-1-1934)

Chile 943, 45 Pesos Export Grapes (issued 2-1-1991)

Chile 944, 45 Pesos Export Apples (issued 2-1-1991)

China C3, 45 Cents Plane over Great Wall (issued 7-1-1921)

Ryukyu Islands C12, 45 Yen Maiden Playing Flute (issued 8-1-1957)

Germany 550, 45 Pfenning (issued 4-20-1946)

Poland 644, 45 Grosz Frederic Chopin (issued 11-8-1954)

Poland 488, 45 Grosz Picasso's "Peace Dove" (issued 11-13-1950)