So yesterday I posted about dumb stuff.

But it was kinda fun. I am full of thoughts about all kinds of things, and why not just dump a few on my website? It’s not the LOUVRE, for goodness sakes!

it’s supposed to rain hard today. Maybe later, it hasn’t yet. I wore a good coat, though. Today, for the first time this year, I rode the bus.

My new car has been fun to drive, but I really shouldn’t commute to work if it is possible to ride the bus. The bus is morally superior, and superior in other ways.

But the bus requires taking the air. The air is nippy, and it might be wet. Therefore: coat.

My coat of choice is not a fashionable one. I wore it yesterday too, even though I was not bussing it. It’s an air force desert camoflage coat, with excellent pockets.

I like camoflage. I grew up with camoflage everywhere. All the boys wore camoflage. In fact, since the school started during moose hunting season, the school pretty much started with all the boys wearing as much camo as they owned. It was a badge of honor, to have all camo. It was a great advantage when we played capture the flag in the woods. it’s hard to capture what you can’t see.

Eventually, the school banned it, because it was too casual. We were not allowed to wear jeans either.

Anyway, when I grew up and could buy my own clothes, I liked to have some camo in my closet for certain types of tasks. It’s very durable and comfortable, especially the really old worn stuff.

When I went out to visit Telissa, whose husband was in the air force, I tried to find some camo in the thrift stores aroudn the base. In california, i hadn’ t found any good camo. It was everywhere in alaska, but not so much here. We couldn’t find any.

But later, her considerate husband gifted me with this nice coat. Awesome!

and I use it. It’s good for dog walking and bus stop waiting, and other warmth-requiring outdoor activities.

HOWEVER, people have opinions about it.

The react to the militariness of it.

how odd. It’s just a practical coat. but people ask me “Have you been in the military?”

And I explain how the coat was a gift from a thoughtful airforce friend.

But they assume things.

huh

And I realize that the only camo i see around here is ON people on active duty. Or little faux camo t-shirts or minis on size zero teenage girls. how weird.

I’ve long thought that clothing was a form of communication. Pairing harley davidson combat boots with a pale pink lace&cotton prom dress is a wardrobe pun, really.

But there are apparently regional dialects of wardrobe. The camo means one thing to me, and another to the soft and civilized californians.

I wear that coat and I am saying “Warm practical coat.”
The see me wear the coat and hear “Paramilitary nut job.”

Not the same language.

I am planning a trip to alaska. Chris needs to see it. I think I’m willing to go there for a QUICK trip to show him.

And i wonder….I remember camo being everywhere. But that was about 20 years ago. have things changed? Thank you, Walmart, clothing is plentiful and good quality. Maybe the era of using whatever is at hand is over, and specialization is upon us. Even in Alaska.

I hope not.

Northern Exposure was on TV on new years, and I made Chris watch some of it. I remember it was on TV, maybe reruns, when I first moved to California. That was what people knew as Alaska.

I thought Alaska was just life. I didn’t know. I watched the show a couple times to find out what people thought I was. I remember thinking it was pretty close, but somehow not quite.

So Chris and I watched the reruns, I with my more finely tuned perceptions.

OKAY, the fictional town was WAY too cute. It is obvious that the indoor scenes were not filmed in alaska. BECAUSE all the little house furnishings, the window handles and cupboards were too old.

They are similar to the hardware in my 50s house. And I remember the then I used to be, and how hungry I was for anything old. Something from the fifties was impossibly old.

There just wasn’t anything that old. If there was something from then…maybe a log cabin? Maybe a sled dog run? But those would not have had all the nice fixtures. or built-in cupboards of the ranch-style.

things were so new. and things were just so damn hard to get. I guess the military was really good at sending supplies, so it was easier for the poor folks (such as my family) to get the cast offs.

the richer folk literally FLEW TO SEATTLE TO GET HAIR CUTS. Unbelievable.

I think that my background is part of why I take the bus. I consider the bus a luxury. That view is not shared by most other Angelinos. But my town didn’t have a bus. I really wished i had a bus.

I wonder if they have a bus now. I know my street, Bull Moose Drive, is paved now, a development I am still surprised by.

I’m gonna take Chris to see it. And the lake, renamed Memory Lake. How ironic! Memories of what? Mosquitoes past? The place was virgin forest before they threw up a housing subdivision and named all the streets in two-word animal names–Bull Moose–Red Fox. The lake was called Swamp lake before the developers got there. But I spent many hours on the lake, swimming in the cold summers and iceskating in the freezing winters.

There are a lot of things I need to show Chris, and probably a lot of things I need to see again for myself.

Anyway. I thought I would post a little something.