Tee Shirts

Today, as I was putting away my laundry, I had several tee shirts to hang in the closet.  In the summer, all I ever wear are shorts and tee shirts.  What you see is what you get.

If you’ve been reading this blog from its inception, you may have seen some of these tee shirts before.  As you can tell – I really like them.  They are fun to wear and cool in this summer heat!

I realized that most of my tee shirts have words on the front; and, some, on the back.  I love the ones that say, “Instant human.  Just add coffee.”  Of all of my tee shirts, this one (I should say, these) creates the most conversation.  People look at the saying and tell me that is the way they are.  I always tell them (and show them) the logo on the back that tells where they can get one of these to wear – Lasso Espresso, I-80, at Gothenburg, Nebraska.  I have at least eleven of these shirts; a complete wardrobe of them in many colors.  Four red ones.  Three grey.  A black.  A purple.  A green (I don’t really like the green one, but I wear it).  One pink.  How, you may ask, did I acquire this number of the same tee shirt?  Daughter #3 and family live in Wisconsin.  So, each time they travel to see Daughter #1 and me, or we travel the other way, we stop in Gothenburg at Lasso Espresso, and buy a new tee shirt.

Another tee shirt may not be acceptable to some readers.  It says, “Friends don’t let friends drink Starbucks.”  Personally, one of my favorite coffees is DD – Dunkin Donuts.  And, an even more favorite is a coffee roasted at Castle Rock and sold at the South Denver Cardiology coffee hut.  Time was that the only time I get that coffee is when I had an appointment with my cardiologist.  However, because I really, really like the coffee, I asked the barista if she could order pounds of it for me.  She happily complied.  Now, I can have it at home, brewed in the Keurig coffee maker that was a gift from Daughter #3 and my son-in-law.  (Just a note here; without that coffee maker my coffee tastes a bit like dish water! – not that I’ve ever tasted dish water).  Of course, I only drink decaf – never the “hard” stuff.

Several of my favorites tees have to do with reading, libraries, literacy, and books, in general.  “Professional bookworm.”  “So many books.  So little time.”  Elephant and Piggie are on two of my shirts.  The first is an aqua/blue shirt with Elephant and Piggie reading books.  Elephant is reading Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!  The other shirt shows a big sign that says, “BOOKS ARE A BIG DEAL.”  Piggy and Elephant sit at the corners of the sign.

I think one of my favorite “book” tees is the one that says, “Every book you’ll ever read is just a different combination of the same 26 letters.”  The only flaw here is that I think it should say, “Every book written in English that you’ll ever read is just a different combination of the same 26 letters.”  So many other languages have more and different letters.  Consider Chinese and Japanese, just to name two.  But, for me, this tee shirt really hits the mark.

Of course, all of the tee shirts don’t have sayings; some of them are simply images with one or two words.  A favorite came to me as a gift from neighbors Rita and Keith when they went to Croatia.  It is one of my favorite tees, dark and soft with an image of pillow lace on it.  One of the wonderful, local arts of that area is making pillow lace.  When Larry and I had the good fortune to go to Europe, our hosts took us to a unique village where women and children (girls, I think) were sitting on the narrow streets creating exquisite pieces of pillow lace.  Watching their fingers fly with the bobbins was amazing.  I brought home several as gifts; they are wonderful.  And, of course, the only word on the tee is “Croatia.”

I also really love trains – riding them.  Time was when I took the train to Wisconsin to see Daughter #3 and family.  I would have a single room, but I never slept on the train.  It was too much fun as I watched the towns go silently by as the train followed the track between the start and end of the journey to sleep through the ride.  Another red shirt says, “I’d rather be on a train.”  I have to say that the train that is on the tee shirt is like the sleek ones I rode in Europe; never, in the United States.

Chocolate is a “biggie” in my life.  I LOVE chocolate.  Many of my tees have something about chocolate.  I decorated tee shirts using fabric paint and chocolate sayings that I found in various places.  “A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands.”  “There is nothing that a little chocolate cannot fix.”  And, a third one that I made about chocolate says, “Life is full of questions. Chocolate is the answer.”  It has chocolate cupcakes and other pastries on it.

Deitrich’s Chocolates was a store that Larry and I frequented, particularly on Sunday morning for breakfast.  The best (truly, the best) eggs benedict in the world, served on a croisant – not an English muffin.  And, a chocolate with every meal.  After Erich retired, his apprentice Adrienne, took over; she named her business Deiter’s – in honor of her mentor, I think.  So, it is still the best chocolate, ever!  Erich’s tee shirt, now worn to shreds, said, “Give me all your chocolate, and nobody gets hurt.”

I love to wear the many necklaces that I own, but in the summer, I only wear light, circle earrings; no necklaces that would conflict with the tee shirt words.  Except the one tee shirt that has no words on it; I have only one of those shirts.  With that red one, I can wear a necklace.

I am probably most proud of the shirt that says, “This shirt saves lives.”  St. Jude’s is one of my charities that I’m privileged to support in whatever way that I can.  Wearing their tee shirt gives me opportunities to explain about St.Jude’s good work.

Sister Clara took a shirt that was getting frayed and put the saying on a new tee shirt.  It is, hands down, my favorite word tee shirt.  It says, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.  If GRANDMA ain’t happy … RUN!”  I love that shirt.

I see tee shirts on other folks in the summer.  I often wonder if it is a favorite – or just one that they picked up at a thrift store.  Anyway, for me, as I said, “What you see is what you get” in the summer.  Tees and shorts.

Be Safe and Be Well
The Cranky Crone
Thoughtful comments are appreciated.