Sensible Clothing

The last couple of days Buster and I have risen early and headed out for our walk before the sun gets too high and too many students clog the sidewalks. We have been blessed with unseasonably warm weather in AB. Unfortunately the hot, dry weather has spawned wild fires that in the past day or so forced the evacuation of Fort McMurray. Countless homes and businesses have gone up in flames and only God knows how it will all end. We all wish them well and hope that their lives get impacted as little as possible.

I was never a member of any team in high school, being more interested in after hour’s activities. I have come to regret that decision over the intervening years, but I am what I am due to the choices I have made. I did have friends that would and did willingly give up precious sleep hours to go to the school for football, cheerleading, band, etc, practice. I doubt that they regret losing that sleep looking back through the years. Oh well, woulda’…shoulda’.

This morning I passed by the girls Field Hockey team practicing. I know very little about Field Hockey and the little that I do know I have learned from watching “The Belles of Saint Trinians”. It does look a little odd, having to hunch over those small sticks with tiny blades and attempt to coerce the ball down the field while the other team tries to stop you. Those sticks look very, very dangerous and I don’t trust that the girls will be demure and ladylike on the playing field. They were dressed in an assortment or sweats, t-shirts, shorts and probably yoga clothing, it was difficult to make out any detain due to the low, rising sun.

We kept walking and I couldn’t help but think forty five years ago the ladies would have all been wearing blue, shapeless jumpers whenever they did physical activities in public. The girls just hated those outfits. They hated them so much that last year when the 50^th school reunion was approaching, comment after comment was made on the facebook page about how horrible the outfits were. I guess if you were interested making a fashion statement or even intended to look nice, those were not the outfits for you.

That’s what the girls thought, but from a teenage boys perspective, the girls looked pretty good. There was plenty of skin on legs and arms to look at and imagination would fill in the rest. Besides, it was a one piece outfit and there was always the possibility of a clothing malfunction. It never happened, but teenage boys like dogs are eternally optimistic. We could look at a girl in that shapeless blue blob and think about how hot she was.

All these years’ later things haven’t changed very much for me. I can be sitting in the coffee shop and watch a woman get out of her car in the winter dressed in a ¾ length parka, red Canada mitts, a pair of insulated boots that nearly reach her knees, jeans, a scarf wrapped stylishly around her neck and topped off with a toque or fur trappers hat. All that is visible is a pair of frosted eyes and a red nose. I look at my buddy and say “She looks pretty hot! Well, warm at least, shows that she has the good sense to dress for the weather.” 

Sensible clothing will always be attractive to me.