The onset of summer always brings out an overwhelming number of hammock posts in the online world. Whether it’s on
Twitter,
Facebook or the blogosphere, I’ve been seeing a huge amount of posts referencing hammocks lately and one of those I came across recently was titled simply “
The Rightness of Hammocks”. Here’s an excerpt from writer Paul Howard Clark’s ode to his hammock:
There is a rightness in hammocks, rightness with calm and balance. There is a natural melding, needless of any artificial effort. I lay in my hammock, allowing the rightness and harmony to claim my soul. The rolling sound of waves, the chirps of birds, the muted conversations of other vacationers, all combine into a complete existence, and the rightness of being here, the significance of now. This is not escapism, this is acceptance.
Read the
full post here. Another recent article, this one by Richard Hedderman for Milwaukee Public Radio:
My hammock is a harbinger of summer, coming out of storage upon the first run of fair weather in the spring, and by mutual agreement doesn’t come down until after election day…. …I’ve found the hammock’s generous latitudes, provision of weightlessness and suspension above this care-worn globe to encourage an exploration of the many questions central to human cognition: Is there a god? What are our moral responsibilities in the face of an amoral culture? Is true justice possible? And how do you keep your beer from spilling if you fall asleep?
Read Richard’s full essay “
Here Comes Hammock Season”. And yet another from a couple weeks ago,
Ode To A Hammock:
A true poet could write of how lying in a hammock is like being invisible within the natural world… the birds gather at the feeder and in the trees, the bugs and the honey bees are not startled by this figure in the hammock, flittering about as if alone. I would have to write a verse of how a hammock is made for spring days—warm, but never hot, no humidity to make lying in the sun uncomfortable, the air moving just enough from the constant breeze from the water. But I would also have to remind the reader that a hammock is the perfect place to watch the stars at night, nuzzled into a warm blanket, rocked to sleep.
Read the entirety of Maria Montalvo’s great
Ode To A Hammock.
Let’s Hear Yours
Have you considered writing an ode to your Trek Light Hammock? Whether a poem, an essay or a simple paragraph – how would you sum up the way your
hammock makes you feel? Let’s hear your best odes in the comments below, or feel free to
email them to us with the subject line “Ode To A Trek Light Hammock”. No real guidelines on length or content, but please make them specific to your
Trek Light hammock as opposed to hammocks in general and we’ll share some of our favorites. I’ll also award my favorite one with a
$25 TLG Gift Certificate, unofficial bonus points if you record your ode on video or accompany it with pictures! I’ll share the submissions and announce a winner on or around June 17th – time to go out and lie in your hammock to get inspired!
