I still miss having The Pony under my thumb roof. When I'm out and about, I sometimes pick up treats for him. Not as many as when he was living here, because I only see him every couple of weeks. But I still think of him.
Last week, I saw a jacket at Country Mart. Yes. A grocery store jacket! It wasn't even one of the school mascot jackets, but a nice fuzzy neutral kind. The best description would be a zip-front hooded sweatshirt, but made of soft material like a fleece throw blanket. It was off-white and beige, kind of mottled. Of course since I'm always cold, I worry that The Pony might get a chill this winter.
The Pony has always been averse to certain textures. He refused to wear jeans as a child, preferring "slacks," as he called them. Or khaki cargo pants. When he broke his elbow both times, he had to wear sweatpants to school. Not the drawstring fleece kind, but more of a track pants with a stripe version. Once his arms healed, he refused to ever wear sweatpants again!
Anyhoo... when he moved out, The Pony left me a fleece throw that he'd brought home from college. It is SO SOFT! It's red and white, a zig-zag stripe pattern. I used it every night to bundle up on the short couch while I watch TV. I have thanked The Pony numerous times for leaving it, and he says he has a million fleece throws. But he always mentions how this one is SO SOFT. And so was that jacket. I figured it would be good for a quick trip to Steak N Shake, or to wear around the house, or take out the trash.
The jacket only came in two sizes: S/M and L/XL. The Pony is kind of average or below in size. So after spreading a jacket out on my cart, I chose the S/M. It only cost $19.99. Which I think is really cheap, considering the price of groceries there!
Farmer H dropped off the jacket for The Pony last week, and said he was trying it on when Farmer H left. When I stopped by to pick up the house payment check on Sunday, I asked The Pony how he liked the jacket.
"It's fine. I don't usually zip my jackets anyway. So it fits okay."
"Oh. I can get you the bigger one if you want. It only cost $19.99."
"NO! You don't need to get me another jacket."
"Isn't it SOFT?"
"Yeah. But you know how sometimes your hands are almost chapped, but not quite, and they get caught on stuff? It's like that when I run my hand over the jacket."
"You don't have to wear it. You can take it to work and give to somebody if you want. It only cost $19.99!"
"You might find this hard to believe... but I'm one of the smallest people at work! So I'm not sure it would fit anybody else..."
Heh, heh! You'd think postal workers would be smaller. It's not exactly a desk job.
"Yeah. But you know how sometimes your hands are almost chapped, but not quite, and they get caught on stuff? It's like that when I run my hand over the jacket."
ReplyDeleteI have that same problem with my very dry almost chapped hands every time I touch micro-fleece. Or any of the micro-fabric cleaning cloths or whatever. I HATE the stuff!
Is the jacket micro-fleece?
River,
ReplyDeleteI don't think the jacket is THAT micro. It felt just like the fleece blanket to me, and The Pony never had a problem with that. He DOES have an issue with his hands getting very dry in the winter, being out in the elements all day pawing at the mail. I'm pretty sure he needs to use lotion regularly. Thanks for that reminder! I'll be sure to insist he use lotion. When he was living here, he used it after his 2-hour bath in the big triangle tub in the master bathroom, because I reminded him as he walked through the living room.