Whimsical Wednesday Whales. . .

A not unpleasant combination of a few usual suspects today for an on campus meeting that was cancelled after I traveled in. Ah, well. There followed about 3.5 hours of writing in a nearby cafe with fresh dark roast coffee and, later, a hot chocolate. All good as they say.

The pants are wool flannel while the jacket is corduroy of course. The first outing for this particular combination this season, Imagine my surprise when I discovered a rolled bow tie from last spring in one of the jacket pockets early this morning.

The whales necktie picture is Land's End but hand-sewn and has been in the rotation for at least 15 years. It was purchased, I think, from the one-time Land's End store on State Street in Madison, Wisconsin during the early 2000s. Before the arrival of the now 14-year old Young Master, the Grand Duchess and I used to weekend there fairly often since it was a straight shot up Interstate 39 from Bloomington-Normal in Illinois.

Yours truly, of course, went to school in Madison for five amazing years before journeying up the road to Minnesota where I met the Grand Duchess in August 2000.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

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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

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