My Marathon T-Shirts Quilt and Pillows
I am reminded of t-shirts daily as I drive through downtown Estes Park on my way to volunteer or hike. Estes Park is a scenic mountain gateway community next to a highly visited National Park. The town caters largely to families and outdoor enthusiasts. Living in a tourist town has some noteworthy characteristics and one is the abundance of t-shirt and taffy shops. I am not a fan of taffy, but I find t-shirts amusing as a means of communicating values, humor, and allegiances.
The first t-shirt I remember owning was one that said Iowa State University. I wore that t-shirt proudly as I knew early that I would go to college at Iowa State. The t-shirt was way oversized, and it drove my mother crazy to see me wearing it, but that perhaps made it all the more appealing when I was a teenager.
I venture to say that I have owned hundreds of t-shirts over the course of my life. As an avid runner, I received a t-shirt for every race, and I wore some of them proudly as part of my running history. I really can’t say that I had one favorite t-shirt, but I do recall wearing out a shirt that had a picture of a person and cat sitting together that said, “Life is good.”
What does one do, however, with scores of t-shirts that cannot possibly be worn out? I suspect I have given away over a dozen large garbage bags of t-shirts to thrift stores—many of them never having been worn. The other project with t-shirts, thanks to my talented quilting sister Suki, was to make a quilt with my marathon t-shirt decals and other special events associated with the Carolina Godiva Track Club. It is a colorful bedspread in my guest room.
Today I seldom get new t-shirts. I am not competing in races, and the last thing I would spend money on is a t-shirt. Sometimes I wonder who buys them, but people do, or they would not be for sale. One shop in Estes Park is called Rocky Mountain Tops and sells nothing but shirts. As I wander in downtown Estes Park, I see examples of what I could buy. Some shirts are clever, and some are a little weird. Here are a few of the ones I saw in shop windows in mid-May:
May the Forest Be with You
The Mountains are Calling and I Must Go
Run, Forest, Run (with a picture of various animals running down a road)
Nice Rack (two bull elk standing and looking at each other)
National Park Junkie
Bigfoot Doesn’t Believe in You Either
I Don’t Always Roll a Joint, but When I Do, It’s an Ankle (Colorado)
Hike and Seek
Be Wild and Wonder
Camping—It’s In-Tents
I have a love/hate relationship with t-shirts. They do bring good memories and I find humor in some shirts. Today I guess I can live with(out) them.
Karla,
I know what you mean about t-shirts. Were he alive, I think Andy Rooney would have loved to do a bit on t-shirts. “What’s up with t-shirts?”
Any chance you can share a photo of that quilt?
Dan
So interesting about simple T-shirts. You think deeply about simple things sometimes. Thanks, Karla.
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