The road wound lazily from Conshohocken to Phoenixville through short hills that were a bedazzling shade of emerald green at this time of year. This breathtakingly beautiful landscape somehow managed to maintain some of its verdant unrestraint even though farmers had tried to tame it for a couple of hundred years.

Brad’s mail run started at Valley Forge, meandered along the very same ridge where George Washington’s Continental Army bivouacked, and finished up in charming Chester County, known for its delightful covered bridges and historical taverns.

What a great job, thought the mailman, as his compact red van smoothed out another bend in the road. Well, not so terrific in the winter months when snowdrifts would pile up 10 feet high, the icy road was undriveable and it was 15 below outside. But today was a near-perfect sunny summer day.

Brad was feeling particularly cruisey, listening to his iPod, singing along with his favourite rapper. He was putting himself in a hot mood for Cherel of No. 363, R.F.D.