Wednesday 19 August 2009

Why I started Green Eggs & Hammocks

People always ask:

"How did you get into this business?"

My answer is an abridged version of the following story:

It was summer of 1996. I had just finished building an arbor in our backyard, and a hammock seemed like the perfect thing to enjoy the space.

I was trying to do two things at once - relieve my aching back, and get something nice for my wife's birthday. Afterall, the best gifts are ones you can use :)

In 1996, there was no internet to speak of, and the local hammock selection was slim. The only choice was color - green rope hammock or white rope hammock.

So I bought the "top of the line" Pawleys Island Original Rope Hammock (white) at the local department store. I paid over $150 for it.

The novelty of swinging under my nice new arbor was great, at first, but I was uncomfortable within minutes. The ropes were digging into my back.

I tried to make my new Pawleys Island rope hammock comfortable. I put a blanket on it. That was softer, but it took away all the air circulation. Now I had a sweaty lumpy rope hammock.

So I laid there puzzling over the situation...

I paid for a "top of the line" rope hammock and I didn't get comfort with my hammock.

Are all hammocks uncomfortable?

I didn't have anything to compare with, so I was equally upset with the hammock as with myself for buying it.

Occasionally I would get on it and try again. Sometimes my wife and I would lay on it together... always briefly, and always leaving it with disappointment.

Our rope hammock became an avoided ornament of imagined comfort, rather than the relaxing place of enjoyment and repose I intended.