Today is the best of fall with a warm breeze, a sunlit light blue sky and scattered clouds for contrast. The temperature should reach 70˚. It is a day to be out and about. I have a couple of errands including getting Miss Gracie’s nails trimmed, and she’ll be glad for the ride. I’ll also take her with me to the library as I can park the car in the shade. After that, she’ll stay home while I finish the rest of my list. It won’t take long.

When I was a kid, old people had a particular style of dress. I never once saw my grandmothers wearing pants. They both wore flowery house dresses lacking any particular style. They always wore hosiery though one grandmother used to roll hers down to her ankles. She mostly wore slippers with the backs flattened by her feet. In the kitchen, both always wore full aprons, the ones with bibs. Those too were flowery, and the flowers were always small. One grandmother was very tall and the other was very short, under five feet. The tall grandmother stooped. I always guessed it was because my grandfather was much shorter than she was. When I watched All in the Family, Edith reminded me of that tall grandmother.

My grandfathers mostly wore suits. They each wore a topcoat in the winter and a fedora every season. One grandfather always wore white shirts, even around the house. He was my mother’s father, and every year for Christmas some of his gifts from her were white shirts. Once in a while my other grandfather wore casual clothes, mostly when he did yard work. I remember his maroon jacket with a gold zipper. It was worn only in the yard, not in public. Later, after my grandfather had passed away, my father wore that jacket. He didn’t mind wearing it in public. I have a picture in my mind’s eye of my dad wearing it while he was standing next to a pile of burning leaves.

I am glad there is no longer an older lady’s dress code though I do admit two of the dresses I have are flowery.