As Green as an Olive Floating in a Martini When I finally got home after a long weekend out of state- I decided to go and do my laundry. As I reached my hand into the warm dryer, I pulled out all the fresh laundry, I had always loved the smell of fresh laundry; it had that great smell of home and safety. As I pulled the rest of the laundry out, I came across one of my favorite sweatshirts. It was the color of an olive floating in a martini glass with white chocolate colored writing. My eyes gazed from the left side of the sweatshirt to the right side to read “TRIPLE FIVE” in large block lettering; sewn on with white zigzag stitching.
My eyes gazed slightly below to read the word “SOUL” in the same lettering as above. As my eyes continued to glaze around the shape of the sweatshirt, I noticed the white chocolate colored drawstrings that seemed to resemble shoelaces. The drawstring added a decorative touch, but also controlled how tight or how lose the hood would be. My eyes scrolled down the left arm, and came across a small patch 2 inx 4 in outlined all the way around with a fine black line; it then was divided into five boxes each different sizes. The first section in the upper left read “TRIPLE FIVE SOUL” in black block letters with “SOUL” written in orange cursive lying between the words Triple and Five. As I looked left at the patch in a long skinny box that read: 100% AUTHENTIC QUALITY COTTON FLEECE — – BUILT FOR LONGEVITY AND ENDURANCE ALWAYS A MARK OF EXCELLENCE I the box right below the patch, it read in large olive green block letters “T 5 S” and in small black letters going across, I read “MYC BOROUGH BROOKLYN’.
Placed directly underneath that it read 718 AREA CODE. My eyes continued to gaze from corner to corner catching every detail. In the next box just left of the area code, it had a place for your NAME: , then under that a place for your SERVICE NO: , with 0055-718-11211 written side ways going over the line for your name. Finally, in the fifth box going the whole length of the patch was in large black block letters it read “Since 1989.” Then in navy blue cursive lettering it said “Soul” and the lettering went from the middle of “Since 1989”, and then traveled off the small patch on the sleeve of the sweatshirt.
As I took my eyes off the sleeve, I then put the sweatshirt over my head as the fuzzy lining glided across my face and arms I could feel the warmth coming from it; it was as if it has just been baking in the oven. It was a big sweatshirt that hung over my fingertips and hung down beyond my waist; I almost felt like I was a kid again wearing one of my parent’s sweatshirts. It was nice and soft on the outside and nice and fuzzy on the inside. I then placed my hands in the large pocket placed in the center of the sweatshirt right below the lettering “SOUL”; I then felt the same warm fuzzy lining that my Arms felt when I first put it on. As I covered my head with the over-sized hood, I got a whiff of the most wonderful smell; I could smell the wild flower laundry detergent; it smelled just like fresh wild flowers in a garden on a hot summer day. It sent sweet thoughts through my mind making me fel 0 l fresh and alive.
It was the smell of my house and my clothes, a smell that reminded me of a safe, warm and cozy place. It was the sweatshirt the color of an olive floating in a martini that made me feel the safety of home.