Classic Style

The upper half, featuring a Mercer & Sons Tattersall shirt.  I seem to keep returning to this J. Press tweed 3/2 roll jacket, which seems to work easily with most things.    And the lower half, featuring my ubiquitous suede camp moccasins by Allen Edmonds and bare ankles.  I know, I know.     K eeping the sartorial faith here at home this Friday afternoon following a meeting online for a new faculty and advisory council on which I'll serve next year.  I was the only man present in a collared shirt with actual buttons and a jacket.  Sigh.  Heinz-Ulrich

    The upper half for today, featuring a brand spanking new shirt from J. Press.  The necktie is, of course, the Ivy Style club tie sold in a limited run several years ago.  The jacket fits better than it ever has thanks to my general slimming down since last fall.  Not much more to lose, and I'll be as skinny as I was in 1990, believe it, or not, when I was but a callow 23 year-old rocker just beginning to get with the program. And the lower half, featuring a less commonly seen pair of tan wool flannel pants/trousers.  One of two in my fall-winter rotation that I thrifted about 10 years ago now.   They looked like they had never been worn and cost just a few $US per pair, so I purchased them with the idea of varying the usual winter diet of gray flannels and dress corduroys. T he fun that comes from dressing presentably continues.  When stuff fits and feels this good, you really can put it on and forget it's there since things drape as they...

      B ack fresh from the dry cleaners, a pair of golden tan dress corduroys that I've had since Fall 2004.  Until recently, they have been uncomfortably snug in the waist and seat for some several years.  However, with now 25+ pounds of weight loss since late last September, as of yesterday afternoon post-skiing, they are once again extremely comfortable.  Even when seated.  Same thing with the shirt.  Ahhh.   Otherwise, it was my 11am Zoom office hour as usual this Monday morning.  Mercifully, no takers today, so I was able to finish some online grade entry.  Most student learning teams did very well with their first projects submitted more than a week ago I am happy to report.   Those students who did not, and there were a few, have problems with time management, planning, organization, and communication within their respective teams even with everything they need to succeed in the course(s) available for easy rev...

The Grand Duchess and Young Master clown for the camera mid-ski this afternoon. F ollowing  The Young Master's usual late Saturday morning and midday Tae Kwan Do training online, the three of us had a quick lunch, and then suited up for some family cross-country skiing.  We've been lucky the lest several weeks and have managed to hit the trails often, sometimes daily for at least an hour or so, either separately, in pairs, or as a family.   Today was no different, and conditions were ideal once again.  Silky groomed trails, slippery "just glide waxed" skis, temperatures in the mid-20s Fahrenheit, mostly sunny, and quite a few families with children or teenagers skiing classic diagonal style as well as others employing the more physically demanding skate skiing technique.   Many people in Michigan know how to enjoy the winter.  The parking lot of our local ski area was actually full, and everyone we met along the trails was having a delightful time...

    D uring a few spare moments between tasks this Friday morning, I called David Mercer of Mercer & Sons to check the status of an order and make sure he had my payment information.   We had the nicest brief chat about the winter weather everywhere, cross-country skiing, and related family outings while he quickly double-checked on everything for me.  He was also kind enough to give the impression, at least, that he remembered me when he answered the telephone although it has been a few months since last we spoke.   The entire exchange was polite, friendly without being obsequious, capable, rapid, and the conversation was ended as pleasantly as it began.  A very pleasant, short follow-up email came later in the morning, wishing us good skiing sessions this weekend. Folks, all of this is how it's done.  Hats off to Mercer & Sons for their always exemplary customer service.  ---------- I picked up my favorite suit, a 6/2 double br...

  O ne disadvantage of the snowplow making the roads a bot more navigable (???) is that the mail delivery van cannot get close enough for the mail lady to deliver the mail.  Hence the title of this photograph: 'Digging Out the Mailbox at -17 Degrees Fahrenheit.'  We were actually colder here yesterday morning, by almost 20 degrees, than Minneapolis, Minnesota where such frigid winter temperatures are more routine.  Still, the temperature moderated somewhat later in the day, and I was able to sneak out for about an hour on skis before dinner. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  T he cold temperatures, snow, and almost daily cross-country skiing continue!  When yours truly is not digging out and clearing the driveway with the ol' snowblower that is.   Oh, yes.  And there is the little matter of working from home too.  Still, as my wife The Grand Duchess has mentioned several times in recent weeks during our family jaunts on skis, "This is why we moved here!"  Truer words have never been spoken.   My other half also informed me yesterday evening, that she wants to learn skate skiing next winter, so we began by watching related instructional videos on YouTube late last night to learn a bit about the necessary technique, which has some important differences from the classic diagonal stride with which we are better versed. -- Heinz-Ulrich  

  Yet another skiing photograph.  I know, I know.  But we have been having so much fun this winter.  I think it shows here. S kiing every other day here lately, and occasionally every day, the last few weeks.  This Valentine's Weekend, w e've hit the local groomed trails again for a few hours Saturday and again on Sunday.  In a word, glorious!   I have not skied this much since I was last in Norway 20+ years ago, clumsily learning the ropes in the Bymarka (The City Woods) outside of Trondheim.  This is an extensive series of groomed trails, much of it lighted until 10pm or so each evening, through miles and miles of pine and spruce forest that surround the city at higher elevations. In newly fallen snow, Bymarka really is like a fairyland that would take several years to explore fully.  I miss it, but we're not doing too badly here in Mid-Michigan by any stretch this winter either.  Best of all, The Young Master's skiing technique...

The Grand Duchess and Yours Truly on a cold day in early December 2008 at  the Lapham Peak Nordic Skiing Area just outside Delafield, Wisconsin.  No gray in the beard, hair, or eyebrows back then.  The Young Master had yet to arrive. W ell, the snow and cold are hanging on, so we're still enjoying as much skiing as possible here in Mid-Michigan.  The three of us are headed out tomorrow after The Young Master's regular Saturday Tae Kwon Do training and lunch.  Can't wait! -- Heinz-Ulrich

  Mr. Onyx, or Dr. Kitty as The Young Master refers to him, gives his approval of today's post-office hours attire. And on the bottom half.  During Zoom office hours late this morning, I wore yet another tweed jacket, a maroon pair of dress corduroy pants, gray Fair Isle socks, and the same oxblood loafers from Monday. I t is entirely within the realm of possibility to be comfortable and yet presentable while at home.  No reason at all to look like you are raking leaves, deep cleaning the garage, or changing the oil in the car on a Saturday afternoon if those are not the activities in which you are actually engaged.  Oh, forsooth no! -- Heinz-Ulrich

  Don't study this photo too closely.  I now see how hideous the nose and upper lip were.  Ugh! Just ten minutes, if that, from our place.  Groomed and silky smooth this morning.  I had the place to myself.  The stress of the week just melts away doing this.  The only things missing were my skiing partners in crime, The Grand Duchess and The Young Master, who were stuck in Zoom meetings and school via Zoom respectively.  But we're already planning for the weekend due to continued cold in the extended forecast plus a little bit of snowfall each day. A couple of hours to myself out on the skis this morning.  The temperature was in the single digits (Fahrenheit), but I tried out a new glide wax and soon warmed up.  Ahhhhh. . .  Skiing through the woods early in the day or just before dusk.  There is nothing quite like it. -- Heinz-Ulrich

As above. . . So below.   Q uite cold and snowy here in Mid-Michigan the last several days, so time for a sweater between jacket and shirt.  You can just make out a solid wool necktie in dark green peeking out above the crewneck of the sweater.   Sadly (Or was it mercifully?), no students graced my Zoom office hour this morning.  Probably the same thing for Wednesday morning.  I suspect there will be a spate of last minute communications late in the week however.  That's usually the way things go.   Why, pray tell?  Their first student learning team project is due in online submission folders by late Friday evening.  I've instructed students to pose any last minute questions they might have before 3pm Friday afternoon. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  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.   W orking 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...

  As above. . .     So below.    T he attire chosen for today's online office hour and later meeting.  I have not donned this particular combination of items, the blazer and pants routinely hang together on one hanger, since before mid-March last year when we suddenly found ourselves in lock-down, all learning was suddenly shifted to an online mode of delivery, and the majority of my waking hours began to be spent at home.   Like many others, there was less occasion to dress along traditional lines for work.  Most days, in cooler weather during the academic year from September through the end of April here in the U.S. at least, it is either a Rugby top or long-sleeved flannel shirt (tucked in with a belt) and corduroy jeans in one color or another with suede camp moccasins.   However, I still make the effort two or three times a week to dress for online Zoom meetings with students and colleagues.  And you know what?  I enj...