subtle but effective

A two foot long leather strip, maybe 3/8" wide.  So simple.  And for some reason one of His favorite tools.

It lives mostly on his nightstand - sometimes posing as a bookmark, sometimes looking like just the odd thing lying there.

It's not used to tie my hands, or feet, or even to bind other body parts, although that was what I had imagined he might want to do when i gave him the whole spool as a gift.  Fun to hit me with though apparently - quiet, stingy, but not particularly serious.

Mostly it seems to be His - I don't know what - subtle reminder when he thinks I need one maybe.

Right now it is tied around my right leg - just below my knee.  He put it there yesterday morning before he left for his trip.  I'm not to take it off until he gets back - except to shower.  Simple - yes?

And not.  As I dress for work - I realize I am limited to pants - even though the weather is finally warm and I would have chosen skirts.  And after work, to walk the dog, and putter in the garden, and make dinner, and run the boys here and there - I certainly would have chosen shorts.  But instead I will wear jeans.

Not terrible or very difficult to live with - and only for a few days.  But it's a choice taken away, a preference  overridden.  And  a subtle but effective reminder.