Yo, Ho, Ho, And A Bottle Of Eggnog

BEING THE COMMITTED CHEAPSKATE THAT I AM I have given up a number of expensive hobbies in favor of others that are cheap – like me.

I used to drive in Sports Car Road Rallies and for a while I flew Sailplanes – two ways to burn up income faster than was rational. Now that I’m retired I have taken up the cheapest of all hobbies: People Watching. I wish I had started doing this years ago. It would have saved me a lot of money and rescued me from a diet heavy on Ramen Noodles.

These days I can plop myself down in a place like St. Arbucks and just watch the parade of my bipedal brethren pass by. Some are strutting through performing for their friends. Some are on the make, flirting with anyone exhibiting vital signs, and others are obviously skipping their meds. And then there are those people who just make me mutter to myself, “Now, that’s unique.” A couple of those came toddling through the other day.

Two, gray haired ladies came in, got their coffee, and sat down for a chat.

They were nicely dressed, happy in their life, and both were wearing an eye patch over their left eye.

Neither appeared to be a Pirate.

That alone would have been enough to make me smile and start writing, but these gals had a little something extra going for them. Both eye patches were decorated in a Holiday motif. Each sported a Christmas tree, a tiny reindeer and a decorative snowflake.

My guess was that these two were long time eye patch wearers. No one is going to go through the effort and expense to make a special Christmas eye patch if you were going to wear it for only a week.

After a period of gawking I did what most people would do – I Googled “Decorative eye patches.” And a whole new world opened up before me.

Apparently, there is enough of a demand for eye patches that there is an industry out there providing the supply. You know that is so when Wal-Mart gets into the game.

By doing a little reading I learned that decorated eye patches are also considered a fashion accessory in some circles. If the term “Steampunk” means anything to you there is a good chance you already know that.

The women with the eye patches in St. Arbucks were not the Steampunk type. They were more “Post-War Baby Boomers meet Johnny Mathis” than “H. G. Wells meets The Sex Pistols.” It wouldn’t surprise me if they both had a drawer full of fancy eye patches – one for each holiday throughout the year. I can’t wait to see what they’ll do for Groundhog Day.

Here in Terre Haute (That’s French for, “She doesn’t look like a pirate.”) the intersection of Wabash Avenue at Seventh Street is known as the “Crossroads of America.” I believe it, because in this relatively small city, you never know who is going to pass by. It might be a guy walking cross country with his pet goat or it might be two Senior Citizen Pirates in a Holiday mood.

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