Classic Style

  S napped these two shots earlier this morning just before hopping in the car to retrieve my larger lawnmower from the repair shop.  The shirt has been in the rotation since May 1999 when I packed up my apartment in Madison after five incredible years and headed to Norway later that summer on a Fulbright Scholarship.   Good ol' Mom ran into the University Shop on our way to a celebretory dinner at the long gone Husnu's (Turkish) restaurant along State Street, and emerged with this shirt and a yellow cheesehead, which occupies a place of honor here in my office at home.  It sat on my desk in Folwell Hall during my later Ph.D. work (and teaching Norwegian 1001 and 1002) at the University of Minnesota. It was there that I met the Grand Duchess, whose desk was just two away from mine in the communal graduate student office we shared with six or seven others.  We celebrated 20 years of marriage at the end of June by the way. Anyway, Mom came back out from the s...

  I have assembled the last two pieces of flat-pack furniture.  EVER.  Two all-weather Adirondack chairs from LL Bean, part of my 20th anniversary gift to the Grand Duchess.  The od wooden ones have become rickety, and their replacements arrived after the date at the end of June. Yours truly has finally managed to open both packages, sort through the various pieces, hardware, and get 'em put together without too much blue language clouding the air.   But Jeeze Louise!  In any case, the new chairs will go on the un-screened part of our back porch to enjoy early in the late spring and summer evenings before the biting insects emerge, and we move into the screened part of the space. -- Heinz-Ulrich

 

  D eep in the throes of summer here in the Grand Duchy. The faded Nantucket Red shorts have been in the rotation since at least 2011 if not 2010.  The shirt about three years by contrast.  You'll pardon the pale, skipole legs I trust.  The shirt's dark green color is very close to the t-shirts presented to campers every year at my summer camp alma mater, Camp Conrad Weiser -- "Keep the Fires Burning!" -- atop South Mountain outside of Reading, Pennsylvania, which I attended for five glorious summers from the mid-1970s into the early 80s when other interests took hold.   Among all of the boys and men in those days (the camp went co-ed in about 1982 or '83), we always had a large compliment of counselors and campers from various countries around the world, including Japan, South Korea, Germany, Denmark, France, Britain, Columbia, various sub-Saharan African countries, and India besides the U.S. It was (and is) amazing how quickly you make friends at that age...

  R ecently , I treated myself to a bottle of Royall Mandarin aftershave, something I've meant to do for a few years.  And I was not disappointed.   The aroma is light and, while there is a very slight note of citrus, it's more something I can't quite put my finger on.  Best of all, it's not a scent that will cause people to wrinkle their noses from across the room as you enter.  Know what I mean?  At any rate, if you are seeking a warm weather scent, and change of pace, give it a try.  Like all others in the Royall line, it is delightfully masculine and uncommon. -- Heinz-Ulrich

  S ince the Young Master and Grand Duchess were away over the recent July 4th holiday, visiting family in Germany, we celebrated with the obligatory cookout yesterday (Sunday) evening.  Long a difficult eater, the Young Master has recently decided that he once again enjoys the occasional hamburger, steak, or bratwurst done on the Weber grill, which is what I am supervising in the photographs.   Father and son have a date for this coming Saturday for another pedagogical moment, in which I'll walk him through the grilling of hamburgers after we've made and marinated the patties in the kitchen.  In the meantime, the Young Master began his first paying job today, helping out at our local zoo.  He was excited early this morning since that was the job he most wanted.  Good man! By the way, the shirt above was tucked in, as is my usual practice with Madras and twill sport shirts during the warmer months.  The khaki shorts were worn with one of now seven...