Holiday

by Geraden

For the last few days I have been taking a much-needed break from work, which had been rather getting on top of me. I have been staying in Devon with a friend. It does not bother Ash that I wear tights, but I checked whether it would be all right to wear in front of the (junior school age) children. She had no objection. In fact shortly after my arrival Ash gave me a pair of Marks and Spencers firm support tights in barely black, saying that she had tried them but had found that they were too restrictive for her taste. It was great to receive a pair of tights from her, knowing that she had worn them!

On my second day I sat in the lounge in those same tights. We were all watching Dr Who on the TV. For a time the kids took no notice of me or my legwear, but eventually the girl asked, "Are you wearing tights?"
"Yes", I replied in a matter-of fact voice.
"I thought only girls wear tights, unless you are a male ballet dancer - are you?"
"No, I am not a dancer.  Men can wear tights too, though. I wear them because I have pains in the legs and things called varicose veins which are not very nice. I don't want them to get any nastier."
"Oh I see." End of discussion, and no further interest was shown by either of the children in the subject.

We all went to Crealy Adventure Park together one day. I was wearing shorts and some black opaque tights  - I think they were Activskin A869s.  It was another complete non event.

Another day Ash and I went for a walk on a local beach at Rodney Point near Exmouth.  We were both wearing Dim Diams 40 denier tights in beige naturelle with shorts. So far as I could tell no one noticed. We went to a local supermarket to buy some edibles and drinkables for lunch and then on to the beach. We could not make up our minds whether the sea was just approaching high tide or whether it had already reached high tide, so the idea of doing a bit of rock scrambling round the Point to reach the next bay was perforce abandoned.

We did not want to have to paddle in our tights if we got cut off by the tide if it was rising; and as for taking them off, that could have been tricky! We went over the cliffs instead. 

Then there were a couple of trips to the moors. On the first, we went up Saddle Tor and Rippon Tor. We were both wearing Silkies microfiber opaques. Mine were dark brown and Ash's were black. Of course my camera batteries decided to die on me, and my spare set had lost charge, so we were unable to take a picture to celebrate our mountaineering achievement. There were some second glances (but nothing bad) and no comments were heard.

We did however get some nice pics on Hound Tor on the second trip. After this picture was taken, I laddered my Silkies microfiber opaques on a difficult place on the rocks. 

On Sunday I walked to the local village and back in shorts and nude sheers to get the Sunday newspaper. Several people were walking in the other direction, mostly women, and every one of them said hello or good morning, to which I replied similarly. I am fairly sure my tights were not noticed by them, or by the dozen or so cyclists who passed me or by the girl in the paper shop. 

The following day I went  back there with my friend and on to the local market town, visiting shops, post offices and a rather nice coffee shop. Ash wore jeans, but I was dressed as before in shorts and tights.

When I arrived in Devon Ash told me that we were in a very conservative part of the country, and that any unusual mode of dress was likely to be frowned upon. I have to say that, apart from a few glances when Ash and I were both wearing dark opaques, no notice was taken of the tights, whether I was in the street, in the countryside, at a restaurant or coffee house, or indeed on the journey to and from the holiday by bus and train.  

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tags: holiday  children  tor  devon  ash  

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