By Patti Parish-Kaminski, Publisher
Found! A hair accessory large enough to accommodate my hair!
I’m an accessory girl. I like all things accessorized. Accoutrements make me happy. That is until it’s time to pack, then it becomes a love/hate relationship.
Packing is an art form, and it requires both a particular skill set and a significant amount of time. I can – and have – spent up to two weeks packing for a trip. There are just so many considerations: weather, distances traveled and how, mood, planned activities, nail color – the list goes on and on. Finding just the right outfits is merely a small step in the process, and the process takes a minute.
This girl starts with nail color. What palette am I going for on a particular adventure must be determined, so I can be sure to pack a corresponding lip color and outfits that don’t clash with said color. It’s a thing. It’s like my nails being pink for Easter and red for Christmas.
Next, come the outfits, which typically cover an entire king-size bed. If it’s a multiple day packing extravaganza, which it typically is, I use a bed upstairs so Mr. Kaminski and I have a place to actually sleep. Yes, the up and down adds to the time devoted to the process. Plus, there’s the ancillary shopping involved to procure the perfect travel ensembles and essentials that add to the timeline. That always happens.
Now Mr. Kaminski does not understand my process; the man can be packed for a seven-day trip in 15 minutes. It’s maddening. He has, however, after 31 years, become accustomed to this exercise and wisely never utters a word about it nor the number of suitcases involved in the activity. If it takes him 10 trips to load the car, his silence is such that you could hear a pin drop. He knows better than to begin an excursion with complaints. That ship has sailed, or rather sunk, when commenting on my travel trousseau.
Once outfits are confirmed, the accessorizing begins. That can take days as it involves shoes, jewelry, scarves, shawls, bags, hair, make-up, beauty products, hats – it takes a lot to be a well-accessorized woman, and I aim to be one.
It’s unheard of for me to leave the house with proper “accessorization,” so why would I travel less than? It’s just not my nature, so I gladly put in the time. Not that I believe Mr. Kaminski would notice me without accoutrements with his failing eyesight and all.
So imagine my surprise when wandering out and about in Gruene Easter weekend Mr. Kaminski commented on my accessorizing abilities. “Look honey, there’s a bow big enough for you.”
Sure enough, there it was. A Texas-size hair bow, and it was pink! Just when I think he doesn’t notice a thing, Mr. Kaminski comes in clutch. See y’all next week – on the porch!
Patti Parish-Kaminski
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