We slept in our clothes.

I am now 67 years old and have spent probably somewhere around 20% of my life sleeping in my clothes.

I spoke with another survivor of his wild years. We're roughly the same age and chewed a lot of the same dirt and swallowed gallons of the same seawater. We both have far more dead friends than alive friends. When we spoke he chuckled that back in the day we slept in our clothes.

That got me thinking. Back then I slept alone I slept in my clothes. It was simply the way we lived under the circumstances.

We're not talking underclothes but street clothes.

As a kid I camped a lot. An awful lot and for that matter my bedroom was a screened in porch for most of the year, sometimes year round. Come spring, summer and early fall I'd sleep in my underwear but come winter I slept in my clothes. Of course before school I would change into school clothes but when I got home I'd change into my normal attire and often I would sleep in them.

When I went into the army we'd sleep in our clothes in the field. We all did. Sometimes, but rarely, we'd slip off our boots and leave them laces loosely so we could slip them on. But generally we slept ready to go in an instant.

After I got out of the army and lived in the tipi for 14 months I slept in my clothes. In the winter it was somewhat of a necessity and in the summer it was simply to be ready for anything at any time.

Of course, hitch hiking all over hell it's a no brainer that I slept in my clothes. One had to be ready to vacate in a moment's notice and clear out if the long arm of the law decided to roust me. I could get out of the sleeping bag, shoulder my pack, throw my sleeping bag over my shoulder and be gone in a matter of seconds.

In the winter it was practically a necessity if it was cold out.

I slept in my clothes all the way to Alaska and when I arrived there I continued because I had to be ready to move in a moment's notice. On the fish boats we slept that way because we had to be ready to go in an instant. However on the boats and some camp situations we were given the luxury of taking our footwear off.

I never lived in a normal housing unit for the entire near decade I lived in Alaska and as a result I slept in my clothes. I lived in camper trailers and on a sailboat when I wasn't fishing.

It simply was the way it was.

Things changed a lot when I met my wife and moved in with her. I got somewhat civilized.

Also I do work at sea but it is a lot more civilized than the fish boats were. I now have the luxury of being able to take my work clothes off before I sack out. I sleep with soft flannel sheets at sea because I have never really managed to sleep in starched cotton sheets for some reason. They are too stiff and crunchy for my tastes.

These days I seldom sleep in my clothes but occasionally it does happen. 

I work at sea and after my tour is up it is generally followed by at the very least six hours of driving and it is a given I return home beat. When that happens I sometimes just kick my shoes off, lay down on the couch and cover myself with a throw blanket and crash. I still sleep pretty good that way. Of course by then I could sleep anywhere.

Still, I do prefer to sleep in my underwear. After the way things were I actually consider it a luxury to be able to undress before I go to sleep. 


To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY