Postal push

SPRING HILL - After 20 minutes, Jim Trent decided it was time to go in after his wife.

Trent, of Weeki Wachee, dropped Pat Trent off Monday morning at the Spring Hill post office branch on Philatelic Drive, parked the car and waited.

And waited some more.

Finally, "I figured I'd come in and see where she was," Jim Trent said.

Near the front of a long line, it turns out.

The Trents were among the throng of residents who descended on post office branches throughout the county Monday as time runs out to get holiday packages mailed with hopes they'll arrive in time for Christmas.

It's a scene that repeated itself throughout America on Monday, said Brooksville Postmaster Bob Carleton.

"This is our busiest day across the country," Carleton said.

When the line at the Spring Hill branch threatened to wind out the door Monday morning, additional clerks showed up at the stations and the queue began to move swiftly.

This time of year means more clerks and carriers for Hernando's four branches because of the increase in volume of packages coming in and going out, Carleton said.

Extra workers came in last Sunday to sort packages. Carriers will actually make deliveries this Sunday, Carleton said.

The severe storm that socked much of the country from Michigan to Maine this past weekend is affecting mail delivery throughout the rest of the country, Carleton said, though it was too early to tell Monday just how much.

"We know there's going to be a big impact," he said. "If somebody's looking for a package from up north, even if it's priority mail, it's going to take a day or two more."

Sherry McCord of Spring Hill waited at the Spring Hill branch Monday to mail a massive box of homemade baked goods to her sister in Malone, N.Y., near the Canadian border.

She hadn't decided which type of postage she would use to send the brownies and date-filled cookies.

"I have a feeling it's going to be a lot more expensive than the cookies," she said, laughing.

As for the wait, "this doesn't bother me," she said. "It's to be expected."

Carleton recommends that customers take advantage of the self-service station that postmarks packages with a debit or credit card.

Linda Johnson of Homosassa made a detour Monday during a shopping trip to take advantage of the machine. She, too, had cookies to mail to her two children in Connecticut.

"It's quick this way," she said. "One, two, three."

As for the Trents, they left feeling pretty comfortable that the garden stepping stone with an angel on it would make it on time to Jim's sister in West Virginia.

But there are other packages to mail, so "I get to come back tomorrow," Pat Trent said.

She's on her own, though.

"I'm good for one trip a year," Jim said.