Laughing

by Crosby















I give my parents a lot of credit -- they got my brother and I out and into the wilderness, even in cold and foggy weather, almost every weekend growing up, even when we were teeny tiny. They are huge hikers, and even spent their honeymoon partially in Yosemite (other part in Carmel Valley), the site of some of their first times spent together in high school, camping and backpacking, naturally.

















Anyway, we were always at play in West Marin, whether it was at one of many beaches collecting shells and driftwood or in the woods collecting pinecones and feathers. My family is intricately involved in the nature that surrounds our particular part of the world and there is nowhere that feels more like home to me than out in Inverness, Bolinas, Lagunitas, Woodacre, Pt. Reyes, Bear Valley, etc.











As a result of those by-gone days, I have a serious soft spot for the 70s-era hiking gear my parents gleefully sported, and it's coming back into vogue lately it seems, at ridiculous prices. But it's fun to look, isn't it?


































































These items all from the most beautiful menswear store 'round the corner from me, Unionmade.

Engine

I've established here that one of my favorite stores in the city is UnionMade. I pop in there all the time and a few weeks back I saw this beautiful bracelet.











































I couldn't get it out of my head.

Nearly all the men in my family are or were carpenters and construction workers of some sort. Before I was born my father inherited a tiny second home overlooking the bay that has been in the family since the '30s but was built long before that. He rents it out and has always done all the work and renovating himself. Long ago I remember my dad tearing up some portion of the house and showing me the square nails he was finding with pride. It meant that the house was even older than we thought, since square nails were last used around the early 1900s. Ever since then I've had a fascination with square nails and their beauty.

The "nail" for this cuff is a railroad spike. So simple -- weighty yet elegant.