Yesterday in the sales I bought myself a new pair of blue corduroy trousers.
(this is probably the twentieth pair of blue cordruoys I have bought in the last forty years or so)
I agonised a little over the choice of lengths and eventually bought the pair which were slightly too long as I assume that they will, as all trousers do, shorten with wear, or at least with washing.
Today I wore them, as they are and of course noticed that they were dragging on the ground behind me.
I decided to roll them up to save the ends while in the house.
Unfortunately I promptly forgot this and it was only midway through a shopping expedition in the supermarket that I remembered that my trousers were at half mast and quickly rolled them down again.
Such are the eccentricities of aging.
T.S. Eliot was there before me when he wrote in The Love Song of J Arthur Prufrock
“I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.”
Comments
padraic
on January 2, 2010Martin, there was a time, (while you were still in your growth phase), when I used benefit from your recycled corduroy trousers. Unfortunately, that’s not a realistic option any more. I do remember saying goodbye, reluctantly, to one such grey pair of cords, somewhere in the English channel, while sailing home from Douarnenez in the gleoiteog Cú Uladh in 1988. I often wondered whether they were the cause of a shipwrecked oil tanker or trawler due to fouling a propeller.
Lily
on January 2, 2010I smiled when I read your post. My husband had a similar Prufrock moment this morning in a coffee shop 🙂
Petra
on January 3, 2010Interesting name, “Prufrock” – seems to be derived or possibly simply translated from the German “Prüfstein”, which basically refers to a type of rock that was used to sort of check whether any given coin was actually the full shilling. Sounds appropriate, eh…?
yvonne
on January 6, 2010Hi Martin , I have been meaning to look u up as I read your colum in Waterford today every week and I was interested to know about your life in France,as we holiday in the south every year and it is our favourite part.We fly into Carasonne and go to Argeles sur mer its probably about an hours drive from Beziers,there is a beautiful village up in the mountains called Colliure which is where we would love to end up some day,best of luck to you in your new venture
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