Blogging Around

Hey Everybody, It's Thrift Shopping Time!

     Shopping in thrift stores is part of my religion. It gives me peace. It really does. Peace of mind for sure. And I have a very active mind. I need things to distract me from thinking. I read a lot and that gets tiring too. There are even books I read when I don't feel like reading, humor and folklore stuff. Things like that distract me from thinking for a while and I can just kind of laugh or muse about things. Not too much political humor though. It has its limits.

     But I LOVE to go to thrift shops. High quality of course. Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and we have these local humongous thrift stores called American Thrift down here in South Florida. Clothes of course is the number one item but I bought a $165.00 wetsuit for $20.00 once and a couple of aluminum easels to display posters I got two for $7.00 each. I had researched buying them one time at $90.00 each. And any time I need a knick knack or inexpensive gadget I'll try there first, and I'm usually successful and get some very nice items.

     I like going through the things there I because it relaxes me. I turn off the world and slowly one by one I look at everything checking the sizes and quality and such. I guess it's the same as antiquing or doing any serious shopping but I like to keep it cheap because I like to do it a lot. So here are my rules for thrift shopping. 1) NO damages, tears, rips, stains, or visible wear. 2) It must be a SUPER bargain, 5%-10% of the original price. That's the fun of the game. Normal store sales have no meaning for me anymore. 3) It must be excellent quality, name brands absolutely. And 4) It must be the right size or the right item. Sure I've made mistakes but not often. And here's a good tip if you know your clothing. Some stores keep their general quality shirts in one place and the well known well advertised better quality brands in another spot for a few dollars more, still good deals though. But the stores are usually unfamiliar with the very best quality merchandise so you find the very high quality stuff in the general item racks too. So study your clothes and you'll get excellent quality at bargain basement prices or probably much less.

     So when did I realize this was serious? It all started when my daughter was in a two hour long gymnastics class once a week. A few doors down was the local Goodwill so I started spending time there every week and I was finding great bargains. I'd pick up several things each time. I was even buying sweaters. Remember I live in South Florida. You wear sweaters down here only once or twice a year. And I started buying quite a few of them too. At $3.00 each they were a pretty good deal. Wools, alpacas. They don't sell those in the stores down here either. You see when you first move to South Florida you bring all your beautiful things from up north. But after a few years you realize that you NEVER wear them. So you send all your beautiful clothes that are in excellent condition to Goodwill so you can make room for your shorts and Hawaiian shirts. It's as simple as that.

     So getting back to being serious. At first all I bought was shirts, a lot of top quality designer brands, all in great condition, $4.00., $5.00, $6.00. The most I ever spent was $7.00 for a shirt and $8.00 for an Izod sweatshirt. Pretty nice though. I bought four sport jackets at $3.00-$4.00 each. Really! Beautiful stuff that I wear whenever I can. I have my limits though. I was drooling over this 100% Belgian wool topcoat once. Stunning and In perfect condition. Very stylish but it weighed a ton. Good for Belgium or Antarctica maybe. So sadly I had to let it go. It was probably worth a few hundreds dollars at least. I think they wanted $20.00 for it. I still miss it.

     But yes. Serious. I knew it because I told myself that I'd never wear someone else's pants. But like any drug it starts small. I started on shorts and then more shorts and then worked my way to slacks,chinos, and jeans. I have quite a collection now. Then I really got into it. Shoes. Don't laugh. I've got half a dozen pair now. Great styles, great brands, in great shape, even a pair of $400.00 Salvatore Ferragamo boots I got for $7 bucks. True. If they were worn four times it was a lot. Serious. Yes, but underwear? Yes, I was open to that too. I didn't buy them though. They were brand new. Burberry or something like that. It wasn't that I wouldn't have bought them but they were priced at $4.00, the same as the shorts and I didn't want to pay more than a dollar for them. I don't want just a good deal. I want a screamingly outrageously super deal. So I passed on them.

     I only talk to a few people about this though. Nobody knows but nobody asks either. And now you know. I get nice comments from time to time on my clothes but it's rare that I tell people their history. I'd love to tell them too. But it has to be the right situation. Remember, I love doing this as a hobby and I'm happy to talk about it. I haven't been able to convince my wife and daughter to join me though. Sadly, they're snobs. Ahhhh. But so it goes. Anyway it's Friday and I wouldn't mind traveling a bit to get rid of the week's stress by visiting one of my favorite thrift stores around South Florida. So I'll see you there. And save the larges for me.

The "In" Look

     I love religion. I love all religions. I've always been fascinated and impressed at the ways human beings have found to relate to God, how they reach out to God, and how they show their love for God and their fellow human beings. Truly it's about how they relate to themselves in their desire to have a successful relationship with God. And I love their sincerity. I love their respect. I love their honesty. And most of all I I love their ceremonies. And important to any ceremony is the way they dress. It's their appearance, their presentation, and their preparation for meeting and connecting with God, a most holy event.

     And isn't it magnificent what we've created. The Roman Catholic Pope all in white with those long robes and skullcap that all people everywhere recognize. And the cardinals all in red with their tall mitered hats. Stunning and majestic. Then too there's the Greek Orthodox Pope all in black with his square draped head piece and long black robes. Impressively impeccable, who wouldn't be moved by the spirit of man meeting God that way.

     Black and white are common religious colors, colors of protection I've heard them called. Santeria priests in their all white suits, Catholic priests in black suits with that famous white stripe collar, and Hassidic Jews in their black jackets and broad brimmed hats copying a style from hundreds of years ago all have slightly different takes on the meaning of austerity and simplicity in their love and respect for God. It's so much like the Amish way of dress whose appearance states unity and modesty to the outside world. And there's something very settling about religious representatives having a unique look about them. Basically you know what you can expect. Care and comfort, love and hope, respect, support and confidence.

     But it doesn't stop there. You have Whirling Dervishes with their great skirt like jackets and tall cone shaped hats, Shinto priests with their fabulously colored kimonos and grand wooden head gear, and the American Christian Evangelical movement with their exquisite grooming and fabulous hair.

     Or there's the simple side. The simple saffron robes of the Buddhist monk, the plain respectful white shirt and simple black tie of the Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and the many other similar sects and beliefs who find the appeal of modest dress. It's just a western cultural version of the simple draped  cloth of a Hindu ascetic. Because they are the same in their intention to respect God from their interpretation of the meaning of a human being's responsibility to God. And culture has so much to do with religion and the way we dress as we see in the Mideast and the different Muslim sects and there unique robes and head wear that speak of what they believe and where they come from.

       Plain or fancy, I love them all. They inspire me. It might be a suit and tie or a bright blue floor length satin robe, a head full of feathers or a plain black skullcap, a loincloth or yards of fabric pulling a long train down the wedding aisle. But whatever it is it's someone's way of saying, "God, In this way I love and honor you." Please join with me and love me too.   

 

Street Shrines

     I pass them every day on the side of the road. You can't miss them. They record the memory of a loved one who's been killed in an car accident. I'm glad they're there. I can feel the love in the people who put them there. And I always like to be around love. It makes me feel good.

     I love it that they're not put up and forgotten. I see them decorated for Halloween and Christmas, with photos and flowers, and sometimes stuffed animals and toys. It's a little sad but I told you before I like being around love. And that's what they really mean.

     I saw one going up once. An amazing scene. It must have been a teenager who died because their friends had taken over a main street and were writing huge messages in colored chalk right in the middle of the road next to a makeshift shrine they had built with flowers and a mountain of things that made up their memories. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. Young friends saying goodbye forever.

     But sometimes that poignancy is lost in the magnitude of the tragedy. Seeing 4 crosses and a Jewish star mounted together by the side of the road, naked, a grim testament to an awful event. I'll never get that out of my mind either. And I've seen others like that too.

     Most recently we have these new rolling tombstones that have appeared on the rear windows of cars. It's usually young people remembering their young friends who've passed away. It's an admirable thing how this new generation has found a fresh way of honoring the people they've loved. And I enjoy love wherever I find it.

     We need cars. We have to get from one place to another, and it's fun to drive. But cars are big, heavy, and fast. The only control we have over them is the control we have over ourselves. These memorials honor those who've died as they honor the future in our love and desire to reduce auto accidents when we can appreciate their terrible price. That's a testament to all of us.