Just as summer creeps toward its sultry peak, the good people who approve official national days bring us the ultimate in relaxation: National Hammock Day! This is the perfect excuse to grab a book or magazine and read a few pages before snoozing in your backyard hammock. Or, if you’re like us, a hammock is the perfect viewing platform from which to admire your backyard’s best feature—its handsome fence.
A brief history of the hammock
The current word “hammock” derives from Central America’s hamack tree. The invention of the suspended bed between two trees is usually attributed to the Mayans, smart people who enjoyed resting above the easy reach of creeping serpents. The hammock craze spread as people throughout South and Central America wove hammocks from the bark of hamack trees.
In Christopher Columbus’ journals, he noted, “A great many Indians in canoes came to the ship to-day for the purpose of bartering their cotton, and hamacas or nets in which they sleep.” The word “hamaca” comes from the Taino language in the Caribbean, but long ago found its way into Spanish. Perhaps thanks to Columbus.
Now, five centuries later, hammocks are everywhere, from resorts to parks to perhaps your backyard.
Things to do in a hammock
Okay, reading and sleeping are obvious choices. But what else might you do in your hammock?
· Watch a movie. You have a laptop and Netflix, right?
· Picnic. We suggest finger foods—nothing too complicated or messy.
· Practice your guitar. Or flute, oboe or clarinet. Probably not a stand-up bass or cello.
· Write in your journal. Or maybe write an old-fashioned letter to someone you love who’s stressed out. Make sure to tell them you’re writing from your hammock. Suggest they get a hammock and write back.
Your backyard paradise
There’s something paradisiacal about a hammock. And we say that with no ulterior motive—after all, we don’t sell hammocks. But is your fence worthy of paradise? If not, give your friends at Buzz a call today.
