Toned Down Wednesday. . .

Reined in a bit sartorially speaking this chilly, wet January morning. A more pleasing (???) combination of items that is a bit less beyond the pale I think, which is to say more restrained.

Two interesting and unconnected things happened yesterday, both of which are worth relating here.

One, a student stopped me yesterday to compliment that crazy melange of clothes, which, you might recall, wasn't quite what I had hoped once I was fully cognizant and awake yesterday morning. In any case, said student mentioned that she really appreciated it when occasional professors made the effort to dress with respect for their students and the occasion rather than hoodies, jeans, and work boots (Hey, it's Michigan.). The student in question is an surely an outlier, but maybe there is hope for Generation Z? Some of them get the concept of self-presentation though.

Second, and closer to home, the Young Master was spotted coaching younger students in their punch and kick techniques during a series of exercises yesterday evening at the Tae Kwon Do studio. He did not manage to earn his recommended Black Belt status in December, yet it was really warming to see him coaching younger classmates as they worked together during the hour-long class for advanced belts. Maybe in June when the next round of testing is scheduled? He is learning the meaning of resilience and determination in the meantime.

Next up, we have a three-day skiing weekend getaway coming up in Northern Michigan to pack for! Winter has been somewhat underwhelming so far although we had a good week or so of cold and snow during Christmas. I was in touch with one of the Nordic ski centers we plan to visit yesterday however, and the manager assured me that most of their 35+km of trails are open with natural snow. Many happy skiers over the weekend according to her email. Huzzah!

And if the temperatures don't cooperate, well we can still eat well, visit a few ski shops, hike the trails at another ski area, and enjoy some board games by the fireside during the evenings. Should be fun.

But let's wrap up the week first, eh? It's 7:20am, so I supposed now would be the time to start getting some actual work done.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

Comments

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

Search This Blog