Frigid Friday in February Style. . .

One of the four Norwegian sweaters in my winter rotation. This particular cream and charcoal number is my favorite. 'For en fin genser!' as they might say in Norway.

Working from home on this snowy, quite cold Friday and ticking off the list of items on the ol' 'To Do' list, including writing and submitting a conference proposal and reviewing an article submission. And all while supervising The Young Master's online schooling via Zoom to my left. Definitely not for the faint of heart!

In any case, such days are perfect for a heavy pullover sweater in my view. While many like Irish sweaters and Fair Isle sweaters, my own preferred variety thereof hails from Norway, the venerable and so called fisherman's sweater.

When I first began traveling to and spending time in the country studying and later visiting archives, now over 3o years ago, you still saw quite a few such sweaters worn on the street, even in 'cosmopolitan' urban centers like Oslo. By the early 2000s, that had become less usual, although out in the countryside people still wore these. I'd be interested to see how things have changed now after 20 years away.

At the risk of channeling Madeline Bassett, it's funny how life and priorities change. At one time, I thought I'd return to Norway for an extended stay at least every couple of years. Sigh. But, I may have the kernel of a new research project taking shape in my mind, which might ultimately take me back at some point.

Returning to the subject of today's post, my mother and step-father gave me the first such sweater for my birthday in 1992, and I've picked up three more over the years since, including a second 'back-up' like the one I am wearing today -- ol' Mom always advised getting a second of something you really, really like if at all possible -- one in navy, and a very pretty, heavy Norwegian National Ski Team model by Dale, which was a Christmas gift from Mom and Step-Dad back in 2000.

These various sweaters never fail to draw attention and occasional compliments from passersby when worn away from the house, and I certainly enjoy 'em here at home when the mercury dips well below freezing. They certainly beat the ubiquitous grubby hooded sweatshirt.

Bernie Sanders and me, eh?

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Up North Style. . .

Bad Dad makes a friend. YMP and Bad Dad on the shores of Lake Michigan. Or was that Crystal Lake? The Grand Duchess takes a selfie in her kayak. How NOT to impress the girls sunning themselves along the river. YMP and Bad Dad kayaking on the Platte River headed toward Loon Lake. J ust back from a week in Northern Michigan in a charming and spacious house on the banks of the Betsie River outside of Thompsonville. A largely pleasant seven days despite some challenging episodes with the Young Master, who has picked up some very questionable habits and language from his friends in the 8th Grade during the school year just ended. But otherwise, we enjoyed ourselves and contemplated remaining for a few days longer since the house was available. In the end, we decided to return home as planned originally since neither my wife, nor I wanted to spend the remaining days chained to our computers in Zoom meetings from our vacation destination. I actually managed to leave the laptop and ip

Mid-June Thursday Style. . .

A nother pretty typical variation on the theme for late spring, summer, and very early fall. I'm a huge fan of Madras and have several such shirts in the seasonal rotation. Lightweight, exceedingly comfortable, and even dressy when pressed and tucked in, which is the usual way of things here at Totleigh in the Wold. Now, if I had my druthers, I'd still rather be skiing the trails in the upper half of "The Mitten" (of Michigan), in the Upper Peninsula, or Ontario. But summers ain't so bad either, and I'd look pretty funny walking around in cross-country ski attire during June. -- Heinz-Ulrich

A Lazy Saturday at the End of June. . .

A sleepy first half of the weekend here at Totleigh. Warmer and quite humid ahead of an approaching cool front here in Mid-Michigan. Perfect for yet another pair of chino shorts an a seersucker shirt -- tucked in of course -- with the usual leather deck shoes and ribbon belt. Otherwise, not much accomplished beyond a page or so of writing and monkeying around with audio settings for an upcoming podcast episode. However, I was not completely useless yesterday! I made a huge fruit salad for dinner, which the Grand Duchess and I enjoyed a short while later at the table on the back porch. The Young Master, as is his wont on Saturday evenings, took his dinner on a tray in the TV room upstairs where he whiled away a couple of hours on Flight Simulator, flying some sort of commercial airliner to some destination across the Atlantic or Pacific. I would have loved that sort of technology at about nine or 10 way back during the late 1970s, aka The Stone Age. As it is, my sister and

Old SchoolFebruary 7, 2021 at 5:45 AM
Heinz-Ulrich,
Your mother's advice--getting a second of something you really, really like if at all possible--makes sense. To it, I would add: if you see something you like, and plan on buying it in the near future, buy it immediately if at all possible; chances are they'll run out of whatever it is tomorrow.
WSTKS-FM WorldwideFebruary 7, 2021 at 6:19 AM
Yes, solid advice. Ol' Mom also taught a version of it. Apparently she had purchased a few such extra items more recently, which my sister is now happily wearing.

Best Regards,

H-U

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