When things get messy

It doesn't occur to me to wear
an apron until it's too late ...

not until the shirt-front splatter
occurs, the mindless hip-side swipe 
of greasy fingers, or the I'm-not-sure-
how-that-happened dab of white
paint on my puffy black vest.

So I sputter and mutter while 
scrubbing the spills and splatter.

But this time, it doesn't work
The white paint on my black
vest is permanent.

So I do what I must.

I forage through my collection
of pins and buttons to find something 
that will cover it up ...

and grab myself an apron.

---

The black vest with the paint was part of my carefully curated winter layers get-up and I wasn't ready to let it go. So, as Thursday's Nat'l DIY day implies, I got creative.

I wanted a quick fix, something that looked intentional, less like a cover-up or patch, and remembered my pins and buttons.

And the silver lining to the silver bird? Nearly every time I wore the vest with the pin, someone said, "What a nice pin."