Fashion

"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months." Oscar Wilde wrote that, said that, thought that...I'm not sure in which order. He's funny. But because stuff changes all the time, I relish sameness these days.

We do that...change on purpose, why? I'm wearing an old shirt that I've had for 9 years or so. The temperature set at about 57 degrees this lovely morning, but this old long sleeve flannel comforts me. So does my coffee. I'm not sad or depressed this morning. I was outside for a few minutes and my day started with a satisfying flourished breaths of fresh air. No, I'm not in a bad mood, I simply love the comfort I get from something that's lasted more than a few months.

I changed the way I get around these days, at least for three seasons. We ride bikes, a scooter or a motorcycle. The bikes set in the garage but live on the road. They're all relatively new, but not like fashion. In this case, I pursued change in order to find the constant...and to save money on gas of course. One's always a slave to fashion or looking good. There's freedom on the bike...any one of them. We pursue fashion like a finish line, except we realize we haven't won anything but the yearly rite to the color of the year. On bikes you pursue glory...rivers and roads, wildlife, wind, hills, prairie, grass, sloughs, lakes, people, exercise, breath...

Oscar Wilde isn't entirely correct. I think it's ok to renew your senses by changing things up a little bit. I'm certainly happy that I don't have my black moon pants anymore. Y'know, the ones with the tapered leg and pockets everywhere. Refreshment does a man good. I refresh coffee, my clothes, my body in the shower, and even my computer from time to time. I've even refreshed my personality...a feat made of years, and yet there's parts of my personality, the id of Rick, that I can't seem to shake. I've owned some clothes for 9 years and bought new ones last week. Constancy and change have merit and walk hand in hand. God even refreshes nature through a cataclysmic killer called Winter! I'm just kidding, winter actually refreshes a land that wouldn't do well if it had to bloom all year round. Nature needs a rest so it can come back strong again in Spring.

I think Oscar Wilde meant that desperate pursuits make you even more desperate, not that life and passions don't change.

So today I'm thankful for refreshment and Oscar. Tomorrow change comes once again in the form of a new President. I get the feeling from watching "elect me" speeches and peering into the mind of the people who watch them, that rhetoric and desire for power, are a lot like fashion...ugly. But Wednesday, if it's not too cold, I'll get on a bike and find what hasn't changed, and revel in it. Constancy and change. Winter's coming. I'm still not in panic mode.