I’m not one who puts a lot of thought or effort into the purchase of clothes. I tend to wear the things that are comfortable and I don’t feel a need to stand out by my choice of clothing. For most of my career, being a minister made it easy for me to choose clothing. I wore dress slacks, a white shirt and a tie to work nearly every day. I didn’t have to think about what to wear. Over the years, however, styles changed and I tried to keep up a bit. When colored shirts became the norm, I had to choose a tie that went with the color of my shirt. I tended to keep the number of colors down, wearing a lot of blue shirts, but I owned a yellow dress shirt and a black dress shirt. Clothing was becoming more casual for ministers, and I stopped wearing a tie for everyday work. I still wore ties for Sundays and more and more, I chose bow ties for Sunday and eventually got rid of the other ties. It simplified my choices.

When I retired, I stopped wearing ties for the most part. It fit the style common among ministers. The pastors of our church don’t wear ties even on Sundays. If I wee to wear a suit and tie, I would definitely stand out.

These days I wear cargo pants and a long-sleeved shirt most days. I’ve got a white shirt I often wear on Sundays and I still occasionally go with a dress shirt and slacks but that is it.

For much of my life I wore cowboy boots. I grew up in a place where boots were the most common footwear and I’m a short guy, so a boot with a bit of a heel makes me a bit taller and ads a bit of confidence. As I aged, however, I also put on a few pounds and I discovered that my feet were really tired at the end of the day. I got some sturdy walking shoes and noticed that when I wore them, my feet weren’t as tired. Eventually, I pretty much stopped wearing boots. I still have a nice pair of black boots for a real dress-up occasion, but they’ve been in the closet full-time since I retired.

Last year, however, I stepped out of my usual pattern when it comes to shoes. We were staying in our camper while it was parked in our son and daughter-in-law’s yard. I was going back and forth between the camper and their house, where I removed my shoes. Tying my shoes for each trip back and forth got to be a bit of a hassle and I discovered that I was wearing out shoelaces because I was going back and forth without tying my shoes. In addition to the wear and tear, untied shoelaces represent a trip hazard, and I don’t need to take that kind of risks. So, when I noticed an advertisement for a sale on Crocs brand clogs, I decided to try out a pair. They are very popular and I’ve seen people wearing them in many different settings. I also heard that they are comfortable. They have a strap that can be worn behind the heel to keep the shoes on, or it can be flipped up over the bridge of the foot so that the shoes are slide on and off.

When I got to the store where the sale was occurring, however, the only pair they had in my size were bright rainbow colors as if they had been tie died. I had been hoping for plain black, which they had, but not in my size. I thought about it for a while and bought the brightly colored pair. After all, I had no intention of wearing them in public. They were just for going back and forth between the camper and the house. When we moved the camper into storage for the winter, the crocs went with the camper and I didn’t think of them again until spring, when we got out the camper. On our recent trip, the crocs worked for going back and forth between the camper and our daughter and son-in-law’s house when we were parked in their back yard.

The shoes are waterproof and I discovered that they work great for wearing with my swimming suit going to and from the pool. I get a few comments on my choice of colors, but I don’t mind.

Last night we went swimming in our son’s pool. In addition to his three children, the three children of a niece were also swimming. We had a grand time. When it was time to get out of the pool, we headed for the house. At supper we were all barefoot inside. After supper I looked out into the mudroom and saw not only my pair of brightly colored crocs, but three additional pairs all children-sized. The other bright shoes belonged to our niece’s children. The sight struck me enough that I took a picture. At least in that particular crowd, I fit right in. Even my brightly colored shoes didn’t make me stand out.

Those great nieces and great nephew are my kind of people, I guess.

It was a real treat to be part of the family yesterday. There will be more family members coming today, but when our family gathers, we’ve become the elders. When we are all together, the majority will be the generation of our children and grandchildren. There’ll just be a few of us oldsters. It is also an honor to be included in the gathering of the younger generation. I really enjoy watching the children. Six children is a hand full at meal and bed times and it is nice that we don’t have primary responsibility for all of them, but it is fun to watch them together. Our granddaughters medially paired up with their second-cousins. The girls are close enough in age that there were two pairs.

But when it comes to footwear, our grandchildren have muck boots and our great nieces and nephew have clogs. It turns out that I have both kinds of footwear. Unlike their parents, I fit right in with the kids.