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Anyway, this isn't a shirt-tale, but rather, a hammock story. Louise has bought a couple of 'em for our little utopia in the woods - strung between two sturdy oaks with the bolts slowly being absorbed by the growing trees. It's a peaceful way to spend some quality time with a good friend: swinging in a hammock. We made a design note to ourselves recently that when it comes time to build a Superior home we'd be wise to incorporate a hammock to be placed indoors so that we could use it year-round (ala' 2-shirt)! See? There was some linkage after all, to these tales. 

well seated
for our 25th wedding anniversary Louise surprised me with a new desk chair (right). I admit it: for years I'd been dropping hints that became over time, less than subtle. Shameless pleading may be more accurate. It seems like yesterday when I first plunked down on Herman Miller's Aeron at the AMOCO Building in Chicago, but actually it was eight or nine years ago. Zoom! Time warp. Flash forward five years and I discover my high-tech dentist purchased these same spiffy seats for the administrative staff in his office, whom I pleaded to assist me in brainwashing Louise. "Just mention that it would make the ideal gift for ____." Fill-in the blank with any holiday or event, common and ordinary. Christmas, birthday, Valentine's Day, Groundhogs Day, 2nd...3rd...4th anniversary of accepting SBC's generous early retirement. Leap year, anniversary of The Beatles release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (the album). I confess, I had not given up, but the fact that Louise actually got one floored me. The dream was fun enough...but to see it, touch it, smell it, adjust any one of many settings...well, I was overwhelmed. Still am. To show my appreciation it seemed the best thing I could do was get my bud an Aeron chair of her own (for our 27th anniversary).

Aeron Chairs: "Design of the Decade" by the Industrial Designers Society of America and Business Week magazine.

The Noodle, resident cat, passed away on Friday October 5 (2007) as leaves fell in the yard around his home at High Pointe. Wild turkeys were strutting about the front yard as other species munched on nyjer and organic safflower seeds - watching the wildlife activity around the center of the Noodle's universe were among his favorite ways to spend a day. Safe in his heated bed tucked into an easy chair in the den, the Noodle had quite a view. The past several years the snarky cat had many of his teeth surgically removed as part of treatment for gum ailments, then underwent radioactive isotope therapy early in January '05 for a growth on his thyroid. The Noodle was a tough little guy. Among is favorite activities were cuddles with Louise & Mike, chasing "stick", curling up for afternoon naps on sunny spots on the carpet in the living room. There he would dream of past athletic feats (cue Springsteen's "Glory Years") like racing down stairs to lower level in three steps (and up again), or scaling the 7 foot bookshelf located in the den in a single bound, taking care to not mash his head on the ceiling in the process. While time shrunk his thug-like frame he was a tough little guy, and we'll miss him.

more Noodle tales: Fancy Feast - a Noodle fav!