So yesterday I left work early, fell asleep on the couch for 3 hours, woke up so rag-doll-ish that I could hardly move and didn’t dare stand up, fell asleep on the couch again for a couple of hours, woke up with a throbbing head, went to bed, and woke up this morning so disoriented that I actually had to check the date on my computer to make sure it was Saturday.

And so, in my as-good-as-drugged state I thought I’d tell the story of my shockingly pink silk long underwear. First, let me preface this by saying that long underwear, which my family calls “longies,” comes up in normal conversation when you live in climates as cold as this one. It’s kind of like discussing your coat. People have opinions on the relative worth of cotton, silk, and marino, the pros and cons of washability, weight, price, feel, and (of course) warmth. I am firmly in the silk camp and therefore feel that the reasons for choosing this particular material should be self-evident to all, so I won’t go into them here.

The one down-side to believing that silk is the only way to go is that silk longies are on the pricey side. I had a couple of pairs of milky-white longies that I’d received as gifts 8-ish years ago (yes, longies make great gifts) and these kept me entertained by becoming more and more of a maze to put on every day. Little by little, I had to admit to myself that they were less longies with holes than they were longies with areas of integrity around the thighs and ankles. So when my mom told me she’d found Lands End longies on sale for twelve bucks, I realized it was time to plan a viking funeral for my old longies.

But there was a catch.

There was only one color of longies on sale. You could buy the milky white ones or the black ones for twice the money (and believe me, I considered it), but to get the good deal you had to take a deep breath, swear to yourself that it won’t matter and you’ll hardly ever see them, squint, and add the shockingly pink version to your pristine digital shopping cart.

As it turns out, there are several occasions during the day when I catch glimpses of my shockingly pink longies. Each time it’s a bit of a thrill. And sometimes, when I’m plowing through mundane tasks, I’ll take a moment to be aware of the feel of the silk and remind myself that only I know about the raucous and defiantly joyful color that keeps the cold away from my calves. Well, I and now you.