Outdoor clothing

   I walk everyday around Stow Lake, which I enjoy very much, both for exercise and to help clear my head of the seemingly endless chatter that occurs there (though this aspect of my walks is not always so successful). I have set myself the strict routine of walking there no matter what the weather, and because I dislike using an umbrella, I sometimes find myself getting wetter than I prefer to, especially when I have to be at work for the rest of the day. Even if I do use an umbrella when it's raining hard, my lower legs often get pretty soaked (my waterproof jackets and water resistant/proof shoes take care of the rest of my body), and I absolutely refuse to use an umbrella large enough to cover this area (I find huge, dome-like umbrellas a bit obnoxious).

   But then, 'outdoor clothing' enters my life

   By perusing different websites for clothing in general, I came across a brand named Fjallraven from an English website called Oi Polloi, and through further exploration found that they make a 'jeans' style (i.e.-slimmer fitting) hiking pant that doesn't look so much like well, hiking pants. I bought two pairs online in different sizes from a discount website, and decided on the smaller pair, which were very tight around the waist, but slimmer fitting.

   Because they felt so restricting, I decided to try to lose a few pounds, which I did, and now they are pretty damn comfortable. This is in consideration of the fact that they are made of a cotton/polyester blend that the company calls "g-1000", and which is not, let us say, the most flowing of materials. I've gotten pretty into the idea of being somewhat waterproof in my clothing, and can't help thinking that there's a subconscious aspect to it for me as well; something like being bulletproof.
   It was a few years ago that I first bought some rather heavy canvas pants from a local company here in San Francisco called Taylor Stitch, who make a sort of slimmed-down version of classic Carhartt work pants, and when I first became interested in the idea of clothing that wasn't so comfortable. Like the bulletproof notion, I assume there's a similar association with stiff clothing, but there's also a quality to it that I think I also like in a very tactile way. It feels in some way that I am wearing clothing that was made a very long time ago, when production techniques were not so fully automated, and which produced rougher, more imperfect articles. I really like imperfect.
   When it is raining, and I am wearing my 'outdoor clothing', I feel like I can go where I want, unfettered by anything in the world at that moment, and for a man that can at times feel too vulnerable for my own comfort, that is a nice feeling, even if I'm receiving it vicariously from my clothing.