Well, that feels better.
With about an inch of rain last week, the grass has been growing quickly, the dandelions have been growing even faster, so the mower had to come out and go back to work tonight. This time I managed to cut the lawn without braining myself on the clothesposts. :)
While it wasn't particularly warm (about 62F when I went to work, after supper) and the dewpoint wasn't that high (about 45F), I worked up a good sweat. When I was nearly done, I took a break, sat down on the back steps and pulled off my T-shirt--and was surprised by how wet it was. After about 10 minutes, I felt cooled off. I put the wet shirt back on, finished up here and there (where I had missed) and then put the mower away. Then a shower, and I was back to normal.
While resting, my wife brought out a glass of water to me, and we sat on the steps together. I turned to her and said, "You know, I'd take off my shirt even if I was a girl."
I mean, let's be practical here. Men sweat when they work. So do women. Men can take their shirts off when they're in the park, in the yard or on the beach. Why can't women enjoy the same kind of relief from the heat as I was? (I suspect they would if they felt they could.)
If someone had been passing by and looked at me (I was on the back steps, close to the alley), they would just have seen an older guy catching his breath, maybe wonder if he should lose a few pounds and then think nothing more about it. Why should women be subject to different rules? (International readers: I'm referring to the U.S. here--I've read that attitudes are more relaxed in some other countries, but the only other country I've been in is Canada, and then never longer than two days at a time.)
Body image is a real problem in our country. Too many people feel bad if their body isn't just right. And I'm not referring to those who (like me) want to lose a few pounds. I mean the people who obsess over every real or imagined imperfection in their bodies. I'll tell you a story.
This was at least 15 years ago. We had gotten a call that someone had lost their wallet at a local park, in the water off the beach, and some guy in a wet suit was looking for it. What can I say? It was a slow news week.
As I watched for a while, there was a woman (maybe about 25 to 30) in a bikini on the beach nearby, sunning herself. The wallet search was going slowly, so I invited myself over. She looked great. Beautiful. I sure looked as we talked, and at some point I made the observation that she was very pretty, and that I'd like to take her picture.
She said OK to the picture, but she acted as if she didn't feel she was pretty. She pointed out this defect and that defect, parts of her body that she didn't like, that she wished were better. Here I am, convinced that she was beautiful, but she didn't agree--she was dissatisfied with herself.
That memory has stuck in my mind for a long time, especially now that we have become an increasingly narcissistic nation, trying to fight off age and wrinkles and growing tummies and boobs that are too big/small and butts that are too big/small and skin that isn't tan enough and nails and hair that aren't just right. The fashion and cosmetic industries love these people, especially if they have the resources to pursue their personal perfection with boob jobs, tummy tucks, Botox injections and on and on and on.
True: Maybe I don't understand this because I'm male. And you don't have to remind me that many/most women aren't that way. But I still feel that women have more body image problems than men, and I wish it wasn't that way. Of course, it's even worse with young women, who want to be like those impossibly skinny models in the fashion magazines.
I think our world could be a much better place if people felt free to say, "No, I'm don't want to be a thousand times a million; I'm going to be one times one, unique in all the world. I am what I am!"
The pressures to conform and be just like everybody else are enormous. I think some of my readers know that first-hand. It's real hard to buck the system. But it has to be done--it's for a good cause, your own peace of mind. Be proud of who you are and what you stand for. Believe in yourself.
* * * *
Boy, can I go off on a tangent or what! Umm, uhh, the message is take off your shirt if you're feeling really hot and won't freak people out. OK, got it? Good.
Another long trip on Wednesday. This time, it's a track meet way up in Calumet, way, way up in the Keewenaw Peninsula (which sort of pokes up from the south shore of Lake Superior). My car is trusty and thrifty. I've got Sirius satellite radio in it. It'll be a good trip. Hope the rain holds off. But the weather has been behaving better recently. Haven't seen a snowflake for about three weeks.
It's after midnight. I've been writing for well over an hour. Better get to bed.
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