A reader question:
Dear Editor,
What is the thought on Rolex watches? I have never been interested in one, but my wife has proposed purchasing one for a big milestone. I think many models are gaudy and the culture around the brand has become a little over the top. However, the Explorer I is a beautiful watch and seems the be the most simple, iconic and affordable choice.
A reader question:
Dear Editor,
As your readers already know, the New England thing before preppy ethos is built on the foundation of natural fibers and wares, things that will last, growing older with you and becoming both more comfortable and somehow a bit more noble, composting along with you when you are gone. This ethos extends to the love of the land and sea, even to our homes and cars.
Over the last few generations, the introduction of plastics, and thus microplastics and nanoplastics, into our land, our sea, and the bodies of all creatures, has been immense. While some amount of plastic is inescapable, the plastics most likely to enter our bodies can, in good part, be replaced with non-plastic, traditional materials that work as well or better.
The kitchen is an obvious starting point, and I will spare all the recitation of kitchen replacements, but brooms and brushes, even toothbrushes, made from palmyra, tampico, horse hair, boar bristle, and so on are available. The various cloths we use are available in cotton, linen, bamboo, and the like make it possible for us to skip the polyester. Beeswax impregnated cloth can keep our produce, bread, leftovers, and more better than plastic cling wrap. Products like Blueland replace laundry soap and dishwasher pellets that are not only packaged in plastic but use plastics in the products themselves as surfactants. Even something like salt often comes from the ocean and brings microplastics with it, some salts more than others. Rather than enumerating my own list, I would love to hear others' solutions and sources.
Peace, Vecchio Vespa
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| Photo: Muffy Aldrich |
But first, my rebuttal - I have nothing but the warmest regards for our friends from the South.
Hello Muffy, out of desperation I am sending this email. I have noticed that you are rather negative regarding people in the South and our authenticity of living culturally Preppy. If you will lower yourself to express your opinion to this Son of the South it would be much appreciated.
I am in a bad spot. I desperately need a good camp moccasin. I tried Rancourt. Visually it was a great looking shoe, however it was a two month wait for product. Once received to moccasins had manufacturing flaws that made them uncomfortable and unwearable. It has now been 60 days and Rancourt has never returned my money. They are apparently popular for such behavior. I have not tried Quoddy but in talking to them over the phone they were very negative. I will need a custom made shoe. I was a runner and tennis player for many years and my feet are wide across the top and narrow at the heel.
Also, though not a camp moccasin, the company Paraboot, specifically the Barth, looks like a nice product. Do you know anything about them? I hear there are a lot of fake Paraboot products on the internet. Paraboot is taciturn regarding communication via email.
Respectfully,
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| Photo by Muffy Aldrich |
A reader question:
Hi Muffy—As you have one of the best online communities around, I wondered if I can pose a question?
I am watching the once quaint and beautiful place my family has called home for generations being destroyed in real time. Overdevelopment, over crowding, insane traffic and aggressive drivers everywhere. As we are in proximity to NYC, we are being inundated by transplants leaving Manhattan and the boroughs and It’s only going to get worse. I am looking to get out in the next few years and have been eyeing a few towns in CT that remind me of what my area used to be like.
In researching, the best matches for my needs have been Essex, Old Saybrook, East Lyme and Niantic. Does your community have any suggestions for someone at mid life starting over in this area, or other suggestions? My most important factors are going to be quaint, quiet —but some sense of community- and coastal. Parks to walk the dogs and equestrian facilities in proximity are ideal. I promise not to be an obnoxious transplant like the people ruining my hometown!
