Groundhog Day Wednesday Skiing . . .

Public Enemy #1 on the loose again. This time using Madshus skis. This is the pair I purchased in Norway more than two decades ago when I learned to ski on the miles of groomed municipal trails just outside of Trondheim. No better place to do so given the extensive network that surrounds the city. Like yours truly, the skis are showing their age, but they still wax up pretty well and seem to have some life left in them. I'll take 'em up north with us in a couple of weeks and leave the Fischers at home.

The beauty of the Michigan woods in the newly fallen snow. Whether or not you love the winter to the same degree that we do, there is not denying the quiet majesty of a winter landscape. Stunning to observe through a window with a hot drink (or something medicinal) in your hand. We just happen to enjoy being out in the thick of it.

We've spent as much time as possible on our cross-country skis the last month here in The Grand Duchy. Conveniently, we had a major winter storm move through the Midwest today, which refreshed our snow pack considerably.

After a relaxed day at home with The Young Master, whose school was closed due to the snowfall, The Grand Duchess arrived home and suggested a pre-dinner ski around the neighborhood before the snowplows cleared the streets. How could I say no to that?

The Young Master begged off, but my wife and I suited up and enjoyed a wonderfully quiet hour plus gliding through the still falling snow. Not too shabby even without groomed tracks, and some pretty good glide in areas nevertheless.

As I mentioned to the Grand Duchess when we set off, I've always hoped we might live somewhere where we can ski from right outside our back door. Another dream of long standing finally realized late this afternoon!

We returned home as dusk fell about 6:15pm, changed into pajamas, and I whipped up a big bowl of rotini pasta, which we all enjoyed with pesto sauce at the dinner table. We have also reached a familial milestone of sorts too. The Young Master remained at home alone, without incident, for the first time ever.

Thank you Jesus!!! I thought we'd never get here.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

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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

Classic Style

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