Dad's Black Jacket, Part 1

My dad has been encouraging me for YEARS to start a blog - I mean, since before blogging was cool.  So it just seems fitting to kick off my new blogging project with a series of posts on the man that I call Dad.  It took me a long time, but I've finally come to agree with my Dad that not only is this a good creative outlet for someone like me who loves to write and loves photography, but now is the time to begin.  I knew it was (beyond) time to begin when I caught myself composing a blog post about my dad's signature jacket while standing in the shower two days ago...

I was struck yesterday morning by my love for my dad's black jacket (and for my dad, of course).  This jacket zips up and is made of wind resistant material (but the chic, spiffy kind, not the super noisy, bobo kind).  It's the Fancy Man's hoodie, though it in no way resembles a hoodie.  Come to think of it, I highly doubt my dad even HAS a hoodie.  I can count on one hand the number of times I might have seen him in a hoodie.

My dad is the kind of man who wears cowboy boots or loafers pretty much all the time.  When I'm walking around in flip flops or slippers, he's got on loafers with or without socks (he has a fancy pair and a casual pair, which really is just a pair that he's had for a long time, thus becoming "casual").  His casual, weekend attire is jeans and a polo or a casual button down or sometimes a sporty pullover.  On vacation or sometimes on weekends when he's cuttin' loose he will wear a t-shirt.  And it's not that he's trying to look nice, it's just part of who he chooses to be - in the same way that dressing casually in sweat pants and cut-off jean shorts is part of who I choose to be. 

This black jacket of his (and its predecessors - this one is probably Dad's Black Jacket 4.0) have come to embody my dad.  It is familiar and predictable to me, it brings with it memories and comfort and security and love.  I love this jacket.  I love its consistent existence in my life.  I love that it has become part of the image in my heart that goes with the word "Dad".