Friday, March 04, 2011

Some late night thoughts while doing laundry - Noah's laundry that is!


What shall I wear today?

Noah on his 10th birthday I think.

Noah is here recuperating from his surgery. On the way home from the hospital we stopped by his place to pick up clothes, computer, some movies he wanted to watch - the important stuff!

He didn't have clothes - he had laundry! While he waited and napped and texted and phoned and watched his movie, he wore Dad's sweats. I sorted his wash - my compassionate service act for the day. (Actually, Noah always does his own laundry - but I have been itching to do it because he doesn't sort - and that drives me nuts!! I got my big opportunity today. And I bleached his whites!!)

But as I sorted, emptied pockets, and turned things right side out, I noticed several features of Noah's wardrobe.

Number 1 - he's had some things a very long time! (Old tee shirts from Scout camp for example and the one from the Death Valley Marathon!)
Number 2 - many items are very worn, tattered, and covered with paint. (From the job sites, no doubt.)
Number 3 - lots of his clothes have been altered in very creative ways - sleeves removed, pajama bottoms cut off to be boxers, wool sweaters and scarves cunningly shortened. (He calls it "rolling dirty" and don't ask me why.)
Number 4 - he has more white shirts than Dad does! (Many are the ones Dad didn't think were "good enough" anymore!)
Number 5 - he has a lot of jackets. (Gifts mostly - I guess everyone worries that he's cold! He wears jackets all the time though - so it's a good gift to give him!)
Number 6 - he sports quite a few high-end brand names. (J.Crew, Geoffrey Beene to name two.)
Number 7 - he has hardly purchased any of them himself - everyone seems to give him clothes - as gifts, castoffs or hand-me-downs. (Harry F. and John Watson were big-time contributors.)
Number 8 - it is apparent that Dad and I buy him a tee shirt every time we take a trip anywhere!! (They mostly involve marathons and other races! )

Noah has a unique skill of being able to live on little - and to make that little go a very long way!

Wonder how long the whites will stay white?

3 comments:

tipi tai said...

hahahahaha, i love the "rolling dirty" comment... Not saying that I understand it, but I do think it's funny.

grannybabs said...

He explained it to us but I still am not clear - it's something he uses when they perform and somehow it came from him coming in dirty to rehearsals after he'd been working all day on a construction job. When he uses the phrase, he sometimes pulls sleeves off jackets or shirts - sleeves he's taken off and then just tacked on loosely with thread. Maybe I'll have to see it sometime to really get it. But it does have a "ring" to it!

Amy Girl said...

I admire thriftiness.