Overdressed? Under-dressed?

I joke a bit about my "dog walking" clothes. These are cargo pants/shorts with a little pocket for my cell phone (Yes, my FLIP-phone. Leave me alone!), and bigger pockets for wallet, keys, camera, plastic bags, dog cookies (I seem to launder a few of these cookies every wash day), water bottle, flashlight...and probably a few items I cannot remember right now. Most of the "pocket fillers" are lined up on a shelf at our back door.

Now, I guess by now you realize that these are not attractive pants. They are bulky and baggy. They probably "add about 20 or 30 pounds" to my appearance (pounds I don't need, I might add). But they are functional (and I don't care what I look like when I walk the dogs* - really. I might actually LIKE looking like a crazy bag lady so that people leave me alone. Just saying.). And every now and again I find myself wearing them to work (only on a day when the weather is bad so I dress "prepared to change a tire" or on casual Friday.).

The shirts range from tie-dyed to camo. Many are torn or holey. During cold weather the ensemble is not complete without a fleece jacket and/or my puffy Army surplus jacket providing the look of a green Michelin man/woman.

Footwear includes a variety of hiking boots/tennis shoes with socks that actually do have little letters (L or R) to make sure you have them on the correct feet (these guys are very thick so you want to make sure you wear them on the correct foot as you establish the correct arch cushion and such).

We also have an assortment of flashing lights (for man AND beast) and reflective belts/vests to make sure the sleepy early morning drivers see us.

I love my "dog walking" clothes.

Hobbes clearly loves my insulated coat as well. Guess I need to hang it up.

"Yawn."

All that being said some days we misjudge the weather - overdressing or under-dressing:

Recently we "geared up" and headed to the park with time for a leisurely walk in the pleasantly cool weather.  It was in the mid 50s and windy. I wore the insulated coat and realized I was going to get too warm about 6 blocks into into the walk - too far to go back and change.  DH was in leather. He "looked" better than me, but got a little too warm as well.

We took our bundled, sweaty, red-light flashing  selves down to the park. We definitely overdressed.

It was slow going. It seems that every creature in the neighborhood has been out and about since the ice and snow melted. Scents are everywhere and the dogs intended to sniff, smell and mark every one of them.

It was deceptively bright outside because the lights of town bounced off the low clouds and lit up the walk before the sun struggled up.

This is the best sunrise we have managed for days.

Today the news told me it was 21 degrees, but felt like 8 due to the wind. Even with lots of layers, hats, gloves and all, I was cold. DH had to work today. I took the day (actually the entire week) off so it was just Paddy and Scruffy and me (and the cold winter wind). We moved fast. The dogs were glad to be out, but we all kept getting tangled in the leash. At one point I was so wrapped 'round with the leads that I had to lean against a fencepost and extricate myself UP out of the spiral of strapping. [No, I have no idea how that happened. I am grateful there was no "face-plant" resulting...lucky, lucky me!]

One new thing about the walk, political signs were everywhere in the yards and in the empty lots. They block/spoil the view and provide more opportunities for tangled leashes. But speech, it is speech...that's another story for a different blog.

There are a bunch of people named "Parker" running for office (or so I have been told). I suspect there will be some confusion.

The photos from this walk - as you can see, they aren't much. But the light was bad (overcast - grey day), I only had my old OLD camera and it was a weird juggle today. But I am talking about a new camera (and I am taking Photoshop) so better times and photos are ahead.


Miscellaneous photos (gotta put them somewhere):

Looks like we definitely won't be getting our flashlight back.**  This is where the "borrowers" lived.

Loved this. I bet I can do better with better lighting (and after I learn some PS).

Paddy is looking for water or a cookie. You can just see the reflective belt at the bottom of the photo.

Tracking something.

Found something.

My bulbs are confused by this crazy weather.

NOTES:

*My children will tell you that I don't care what I look like most of the time. I guess that is true, but I do clean up pretty well for special occasions. But then my college room-/suite-mates will tell you that "You can dress her up, but you can't take her out." Just saying...

** We had seen a U-Haul there the other day, but weren't sure they were all moving. It is okay. I bought DH a new flashlight for Christmas. It cost a fortune. He bought me one too - a different kind. I guess you can never have enough flashlights. And from now on we will keep a cheap flashlight at the back door to loan to neighbors.