When the cold weather hits it sends me scurrying through my winter gear. I try each year to pare down the amount of stuff I have and that includes clothing. It's always a tough call. I might wear that. I really like that even thought I don't often wear it. Last year I gave away a heavy synthetic parka in favour of a two part system, a shell and a liner with synthetic fill. When the cold weather did come the new jacket system turned out to be a wee bit on the chilly side, to say the least. The other night when we finished a choir gig at a seniors' residence one of our friends mentioned that his wife had make the parka he was wearing. It was two coats, a heavy inner one made of thick wool and a cotton outer one to cut the wind. As I admired it I remembered the two parkas that I bought many years ago at Yukon Native Products in Whitehorse, a teal one for me and a red one for Mum. I remembered looking at them and thinking I should give them away if I wasn't going to wear them. I hoped I hadn't. When I got home I dug in the back of the closet and there were both of them.
I tried Mum's on first because hers was a size larger than mine. It fit well with room for a fleece or a sweater under it. I didn't think mine would fit because my weight has changed quite a bit since I bought it. I decided to try it on anyway hoping that someday I might be able to get back into it. I not only got into it, I was able to zip it up and it fit fairly comfortably with space for a light fleece underneath. The only issue seems to be my habit of leaving my car keys in my jeans pocket until I've zipped myself into both layers of the parka so I have to undo both or stubbornly struggle to extract the keys. Eventually I'll manage to take the keys out before doing up the zippers.
It's not only the lack of shivers chasing up and down the spine and round the shoulders that makes me like my warm clothes: it's the confidence that, by adding layers, I'll be able to stay warm in the cold weather. During university and then living in Banff I wore wool sweaters and duffle coats. The first year in Banff I had no car so I bundled up and walked everywhere. I was always warm. I think Colline, is onto something when he sings about his coat being a 'faithful friend.' I don't need two Yukon parkas but during the winter when the air is cold and the days are short I don't think that having two faithful friends is all that bad of an idea.
*Aria sung by Colline, bass, in Puccini's La Boheme.
