Fun Pants
When a nagging task becomes something better
Why go to the effort of mending a ratty pair of jeans? I didn’t even know until I finished the job.
Fun Pants Threadbare at the knees my thinning jeans, frumpy holes in all the wrong places Worn-out because once, they fit so well (a little snug in all the right places) Now the baggy seat bends with me as I pull weeds, grit finds my skin through holes calling for patches as if I had time to mend between weeding, dishes, and laundry Another day in the garden I curse the holy jeans the weeds will have to wait while floral patches are sewn stitches crazed with impatience criss-crossed and zagged Until the sewing machine slows and I enter the labyrinth- thread winding unpredictably over and through the flowers then dipping away into the indigo field and back Finally, pulling on the jeans newly textured and colorful I take my Fun Pants to the garden
The truth is, I normally enjoy sewing. But somehow mending, tucked into a list of to-do’s, really felt like a nuisance. In the end, the satisfaction of improving something was greater than expected. And now every time I have some hard work to do, I get to put on the Fun Pants.
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