I Miss My Pants

Even though Kat's son requested fried pickles on Monday night, and the batter has a habit of finding its way all over the kitchen during the heat of creation, and wheat gluten makes it hard to scrape the stuff out of thin-wale corduroy even when my fingernails need trimming, I wore those cords again yesterday.

But this morning, my friends sit on top of the laundry pile. Much as spots and stains are a kind of mark of distinction for someone with a touch of a hippie bent, my pants simply need to be washed. But sometimes it's hard to let go.

It's funny the way those little attachments form. I don't remember how many days in a row I looked down and saw their brown bagginess hanging off my bottom half. I do remember how much I liked the transition from stiff cleanliness to thin, soft looseness, I remember the impression vividly.

You know how friendship is defined by something shared between two people, something they created together, a mix of personal traits that grew into something new? Well, I felt like my pants and I had that, if only a tiny little bit. When I looked down, something in their style spoke to me. I felt that I was a specific kind of person when I had them on.

I could even fall into animism here, the belief that everything has a spirit, and maybe, considering Hegel and Plato and some others, there's something to the notion. Spirit doesn't necessarily have to be a sheet with holes cut in it crying "boo," but it doesn't have to be a purely psychological phenomenon either. "There are more things in Heaven and Earth," etc, etc. I'm with Little Willie Shakespeare. Why not? Who can tell with absolute certainty where the line between self and the outside world should be drawn?

From pants to animism. That's what's wrong with me. And I'm just fine with it. Happy, in fact.

But then, listen to this. See, I'm not alone. The poor guy longs for his shirt. And there's a pretty picture to meditate on too!



So this morning, I'm wearing the brown, jean-cut pants that are still a little like khakis. Yes, I like earth colors. And I'll probably get attached to those too.

That's enough about pants for one day. Hope you have a good one!