“Just around the corner in every woman’s mind – is a lovely dress, a wonderful suit, or entire costume which will make an enchanting new creature of her.”
The sun is on hiatus, and the wind makes the day feel colder than it is. I was going to the St. Patrick’s Day parade but remembered I have a movie date with a friend for the 2:10 show so I decided to hang around until then. I was on the deck earlier surveying the yard and Gracie was with me. She got up on the lounge chair. I figured she’s practicing for her summer naps. Poor Gracie has a long wait.
A few of the daffodils have buds, and I wanted to do a happy dance when I saw them. The buds are on the side of the house which gets the most sun. I think they are a hopeful sign.
Last night we watched the Red Sox play the Yankees in a spring training game. The starting pitcher and catcher were the only stalwarts. Most of the other players will be in AAA Pawtucket this year, but I knew many of them as they had spent some time with the Sox last summer when injuries decimated the team. It was so good to watch baseball, to see a green infield and to hear the cracks of the bats. Summer can’t be all that far away. In case you were wondering, the Sox won.
I used to wear girls’ blue jeans when I was little. The zipper was in the pocket. They were denim, but I always thought them a lesser breed than boys’ dungarees. We always wore canvas sneakers as our play shoes. My brother wore boys’ sneakers. They were always Converse black high tops, but nobody called them that back then. They were just sneakers. Girls’ sneakers came in all sorts of colors, had narrow toes and were only ankle high. I always wore socks with my sneakers. I don’t remember ever wearing a sweatshirt back then. My brother had some. None had hoods. I wore sweaters as did every other girl my age. We wore dresses to all the big events and to church on Sunday. Slacks were worn for informal events. They were never called pants, just slacks. I don’t ever remember wearing sandals, and I know my brother and his friends would never have worn them. They’d have thought them sissy. During the summer, I wore shorts. My brother never did. It was that sissy thing again. He always wore his dungarees with a short sleeve jersey, his only wardrobe concession to summer. Boys wore shirts. Girls wore blouses. They didn’t look the same. Boys’ shirts had buttons on the opposite side of where girls’ blouses had buttons. I don’t know why, but it seems silly to me even now.
I wear sandals all summer and hooded sweatshirts around the house all winter. My pants have zippered fronts and I seldom wear a dress. I don’t know if its sartorial progress or not. I just know it’s far more comfortable being a girl than it used to be.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
March 5, 2011 at 12:48 pm
The wind made the day less nice than it should have been really, the sun shone and it was fairly warm, but the wind destroyed it all.
I wore sandals and still do, but now days they look like some kind of stripped running shoe to be honest and they are so much more comfortable to wear. I never have aching feet when wearing those.
I have heard some kind of explanation to why blouses have the buttons opposite to shirts. I can´t remember why but I do remember that it sounded stupid 🙂 🙂
Have a great day now!
Christer.
March 5, 2011 at 1:03 pm
Christer, it’s so you can get at your sword easily. Unless you are a lefty. Or, if you’re a woman, it’s so your maid can more easily button you up. You’re right. It’s stupid. 🙂
March 5, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Hi Caryn,
Silly reasons indeed!
March 5, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Yes that was the reason!
Thanks Caryn!
Christer.
March 5, 2011 at 6:44 pm
1. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080807211940AAxhbHu
2. http://ask.yahoo.com/20031205.html
Cheers
March 5, 2011 at 1:37 pm
Christer,
The day is even uglier than it was this morning. The sky is gray and the tops of the trees are blowing.
I wear them all summer, but I wear studier shoes in winter. They are so comfortable I don’t mind enclosing my toes.
Have a wonderful weekend!
March 5, 2011 at 1:01 pm
I dunno, Kat. With the complete takeover of the metal bats (at least within my hearing), I would hesitate to describe the sound they make as a “crack”. I would say it is more of a “bonk” or “tonk”. It is NOT as satisfying to me as the sound of a hardball being solidly thwacked by a hardwood bat!
March 5, 2011 at 1:33 pm
RH,
The majors still use wood, and the Cape Cod Baseball League does too. The college kids who are invited to the league have the worst batting averages at the beginning of the season as they are used to metal. As the season goes by, the averages rise and you can hear the crack of the bat.
March 5, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Hi Kat.
I never had jeans with the zipper in the pocket and I’m about your age. I had jeans with flannel linings and I always had to turn them up because the legs were too long. My cousin and I wore red PF Flyers because Shecky the Raccoon would not follow us on the leash unless we wore red shoes of some kind. We wore the horrid nylon ankle socks that always crawled down under our heels no matter how high we pulled them up.
My teens were spent in jeans and a sweatshirt and sandals whenever possible. It was my uniform. I have been in some variation of that uniform ever since.
The only signs of spring up here are a marked lessening of the snow cover and some very noisy birds.
Enjoy the day!
March 5, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Caryn,
I also had those jeans with the flannel. I think they had elastic around the waist. Converse was always the big sneaker here as the Converse plant was close, and you could buy your sneakers there for less.
I had to wear a uniform to high school and dresses when I was in the Peace Corps. Nice women, back then in Ghana, did not wear pants. When I got home, I wore the most comfortable clothes I could find, still wear them!
March 5, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Church rules, School rules, I think the combination of girls being dictated to as what to wear was everywhere when I grew up. I know the kids that got off easy were those that went to the Catholic High. They had uniforms so looked the same all the time. We followed what was worn on TeeVee shows back then. It didn’t necessarily please the teachers or higher ups but between parents and teachers we got away with a lot and to this day I am still a sweatshirt guy. I wore them through high school college and anyone who knew me well would get one as a gift at Christmas. One Christmas I got 9 each from a different school and one redneck saying shirt which I tossed. I didn’t see the humor in it and wouldn’t be caught dead in the damn thing. Surgery next week?
March 5, 2011 at 9:53 pm
Z&Me,
Yup, I wore uniforms almost all my way through school. It made life so much easier and my mother was thrilled she didn’t have to spend money on school clothes every year.
I wear sweatshirts all day around the house and when I go out as well. I usually just go from the house to the car to a store then reverse it.
Surgery on Tuesday.
March 5, 2011 at 5:48 pm
Just about some lines : you’re lucky to see a training game of the Red Sox. For years, when the Expos started training, it means to me : here comes spring and summer. There was also some of these games on TV and it was strange to see the players under the sun, while it was still snowing up here. I still miss the Expos. MLB killed my youth when they put away the team.
March 5, 2011 at 9:54 pm
Mario,
That’s exactly what I think when baseball starts. It means winter is finally over and summer can’t be too far away.
I think Brooklyn would say the same thing about the Dodgers.
March 5, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Minicapt,
“European men tended to take their plumage cues from the military, while women’s clothing arose out of domestic concerns.”
Wasn’t that the way!!