I like to think that I'm a bit of an individual. I don't worry about trends to much. I strive to "be me". Many years ago I started sporting a goatee beard - long before it became a fashion trend. I suspect I was one of the pioneers that started it all.
Now it seems I'm starting a fashion trend with my camo clothing. Although it certainly has been an uphill battle. I take a lot of ribbing for my camouflage. I think that is wrong. In fact I think it's unconstitutional. I may even call Prime Minister Stephen Harper on this. I wonder if he owns any camouflage? He should.I also wonder why Don Cherry doesn't wear a camouflage suit on Hockey Night in Canada. He's always supportive of our troops. Why not wear a camo suit? Perhaps the CBC has an aversion to camouflage as well. This is wrong I tell you! There, now I have two phone calls to make on the camo front.
A few years ago I bought a 4-in-1 Columbia camo duck hunting jacket. I used it for deer and moose hunting. It was regular $300 on sale for $149. Heck of a deal. The jacket was a little big (being a 2XL) but it was awesome.
Shortly after I bought this jacket I put it on as our family was heading out to church. My daughter Erin, blocked me at the door and announced, "Dad! You can't wear that jacket to church. It's totally hick!" For some reason I took the jacket off and wore something else. (Sometimes Dads need to heed fashion warnings from their daughters.) But once I got to church I started to ruminate on the subject of camouflage. "Does the Lord not see you if you're wearing camouflage in church?" I wondered. "Does he not see you as one of his precious children?" "Is there an Old Testament teaching on the wearing of camouflage?" "Did Jesus rebuke one of the disciples for wearing camo sandals?"
Get this: The Thunder Bay Police Service (where I spent 30-years of my life) has a rule on the books that outlaws the wearing of camouflage clothing by non-uniformed civilian members. In this regulation camouflage is lumped in with "ripped and/or excessively worn and/or dirty clothing" and "clothing that is revealing and not business-like" (unless you're a stripper). (Comment in parenthesis added by me.)
This is institutional harassment I say! My Carhartt camouflage jeans are worth more than a pair of Dockers! What depths has this once noble institution fallen to in my absence?
Not too long after buying that jacket, Columbia came out with a 3-in-1 Omni Heat camouflage big game parka. I had to have one. I was ordering one for my son for our upcoming moose hunting trip and well, the deal was so good I thought I might as well get one too. It is awesome. I got mine in "Timber Wolf" camouflage. I sometimes wish I would have got it in "Horn Mesa" like my son's jacket. But the name "Timber Wolf" suits me.
I love my Columbia Omni-Heat Timber Wolf camouflage jacket. I mostly wear the inside jacket and not the outer rain-proof shell. The inside jacket is very "cool" yet warm. Recently a friend of mine saw me in a green wool hunting jacket. He commented on liking the jacket adding, "You can't wear camouflage all the time." This comment haunts me. "Why not?" I ask. "Why can't I wear a camo jacket 'All the time'?"
Recently I wore my camo pants and camo Columbia jacket to a dentist appointment. As the dental assistant sat me in the chair and hung up my coat she said rather smartly, "Were you hunting?" She then gave me a sly smile. This is classic Northern Ontario for you. You can wear a ball hat while eating at the table in a fine restaurant, drive a jacked-up 4X4 that gets 2-miles to the gallon, but wear camouflage and it's an outrage. Is this not a perversion of priorities? Is this not a travesty to companies who sell camouflage clothing? Very HIGH QUALITY clothing I might add!
No, I will keep wearing camouflage. I am true to the camouflage cause. (As I write this I am wearing a camouflage long-sleeve pull-over, a pair of blue plaid pyjama pants (commando style), and fuzzy sheep-skin slippers. And look DARN GOOD too! I think I'll zip to the corner store dressed like this...)
Any-hooo. That's my rant on camouflage. Wear it with pride. Wear it anywhere you like. At least while it's still legal.
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