Perception...

Marymine is busy doing the moving thing... with which I have been almost no help.  I have moved enough (29 times) for a while. 
The other day I was over at her old place pestering her and asked where the college student was... "Oh she's gone snow skiing...Yuck!!!"  "Good for her...she'll have fun", says I.  Which produces the snake eye and a comment to the effect of "I hate being cold"...   Well no surprise there, I remember all the pics of her...on the hot beaches at Cubi...among other places.  Since we were on the subject of being cold, she produced her new winter coat and asked me if I liked it...  ummm...  "what is that collar pelt made from...road kill rabbit?"  "Funny mom, I remember when you used to wear "the" fur coat to stay warm and to go skiing...and then would pick us up from school with it still on.  We were so embarrassed...!"  
That is not the way I remember it at all...
see post
Brighid: FUR FLYING
     

The Other Mothers...

  Many years ago while in the process of cleaning out closets in the big house at my mother-in-law's, we happened on the fur coats.  She hadn't worn hers in years, and she was putting them in the thrift store box.  Oh, I fell in love with one, it was a beautiful three quarter length mink, and fit me perfectly.  "Take that if you want it," says she.  Trying to act like it was no big deal, I quickly put it back in it's special bag and hustled it out to my pickup.

Now I lived on the family cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere.  Most of my time was spent with kids, cowboys, cows, horses, dogs, and barbwire.  What would I be doing with a fur coat.

  I so wanted a reason to wear that coat.  A call to a friend was the hatching of the Plan. You see the friend also had an ol fur coat she loved, lived in the middle of nowhere, & had small children. Her kids and mine went to the same private Catholic school in town. 

Getting kids to school entailed a lot of mad dashes to town in what ever vehicle was available at o-dark-thirty in the morning. Me wearing ratty jammies, old leather slippers and trying to keep from spilling my mug of coffee. I often pulled into the parking lot with screeching tires, dogs barking, baling wire, curlers, and hay flying.  My friend arrived a bit nicer but not by much.  There we were met by the Other Mothers.  The Other Mothers lived in town, drove polished cars, had their makeup on, and were dressed fit for a brunch at the Cliff House.  They weren't very friendly to us, even though we never turned the kids or dogs loose on them. 

After another morning of the Treatment by the Other Mothers, I decided that the school parking lot was to be the place I would implement the Plan.  My friend was game.  We would wear our fur coats to take our kids to school.   We still screeched into the parking lot, with cowdogs barking, hay flying, messy hair, and ratty jammies, but also wearing our glorious fur coats. We kept it up til the weather got too warm to wear our furs.  The Other Mothers never did take a liking to us, but dang we had a great time.