THE SWEATER

September 1998 was just another ordinary Autumn in Southern California, a hardly noticeable change of season, with temperatures similar to those of July. On this particular day however, some clouds appeared in the west over the Pacific as I found myself in downtown Imperial Beach. While driving down Palm Avenue, a light rain began to fall, the first my windshield had felt in quite some time. My crackled wipers only smeared the wet dust into arcs, obscuring my view completely. Imperial Beach is a city that seems to have only one way in and one way out. It straddles the main thoroughfare that heads west off Interstate 5 leading directly to the beach, with the Silver Strand Blvd the only artery that runs north back up into Naval grounds. I pulled over on 9th street and glimpsed a Goodwill Industries sign. My heart raced as I imagined an impending Mr. Cal score. Wasting no time, I entered and rummaged acutely through the men's shirt aisle, but to no avail. As I always do, I checked the work wear rack for a BILL PARRY jumpsuit, but struck out. As I was about to exit the store, I remembered the inclement weather and headed back for a look at overcoats and sweaters. I had gotten about two thirds way through the sweaters when I SAW IT. Beige with two broad dark brown vertical stripes in front. Left and right front pockets at the abdomen. I carefully slipped the garment off the hanger to view the label. "MR. CALIFORNIA". I lost my balance for a moment as I took in the enormity of the find. In all the years of searching for shirts, by sheer chance and circumstance, I found what may be the very limited offering of MR. CALIFORNIA SWEATER'S. I embraced the Sweater with both arms as it's acrylic and wool blend tickled my chin. For me the Enthusiast, this was a true blessing. To this date, my research shows of no other Mr. California sweaters on record.