Black don't crack.

Many a jacket hangs in my closet.  There are two down jackets, one large and puffy, the other is more of a down pea coat with a great hood.  There are numerous hoodies of varying ages and thicknesses.  Some of the hoodies have been adorned with the graphics of old t-shirts sewn on the the back as a way to customize and preserve, so punk rock.  From my travels to other countries, I have a great collection of Adidas soccer jackets, Team Argentina, Team Mexico, plain black with white stripes and a high collar, etc.  I even have a hoodie that I adopted from the barbershop after no one came back to claim it.  Being someone who wants to avoid the cold touching me at all times, I have collected these jackets over the years and refuse to part with any of them.  

Today it snowed all day, nothing major, just a consistent flurry of the heavy, fresh-off-the-sea snow that I guess is the norm for Portland Maine.  This breed of snow is all new to me.  Heavy, sticky, makes slush as soon as it hits the ground.  Strange to this Colorado girl who's only experience with snow up to this point has been the dry fluff of a high altitude, landlocked climate.  And then the sun went down, the temperature went up.  And then it started to rain.  It's still raining.  WHAT THE CRAP?!(insert mind-blown emoji) 

How in the world does snow turn to rain?  Rain turns to snow, period.  When the sun goes down, the temp goes down, period.  Not so quick, I'm learning.  The ocean is a powerful determiner of all things weather and being right by it means I need to throw out the rule book on what I've experienced, having never lived in the coastal climate of New England.  Or shall I say, having never wanted to live in the coastal climate of New England.  I truly cannot believe I am hunkering down to endure a Maine winter.  sigh.

Though I hate winter and snow, I love shoveling snow, gets the anger out.  Having good intentions to shovel some of the snow this eve, I got all dressed up and went outdoors only to find the rain has completely soaked the four inches of snow that had fallen.  It is complete slush; deep, icy slush.  My Famous Footwear snow boots are no match for this, I need real boots.  Alas, I at least used the opportunity of being outside and brushed the slush off of my car before it has the chance to turn to four-inch-thick ice.

When I came in I removed my soaked boots, my soaked gloves and hung up my soaked jacket.  Clothes be gettin' soaked.  The jacket I had chosen to wear outside is the one I thought best suited for a rainy situation and proved to hold its own for the fifteen minutes I stood in the sopping wet snow and got poured on by freezing rain.  This black hooded jacket has been in my life for almost ten years.  It's technically a lightweight ski jacket, lined with a thin fleece, that I bought for the "cold" nights I would experience living in Guatemala back in 2009.  We are talking about 55 degrees at the lowest.  It is the closest thing I have to a real rain jacket that would also provide me warmth.  It's still hanging and will probably take the bulk of the night to dry.

What prompted me to write tonight about jackets and weather was the thought that I NEVER, EVER would have known that the jacket I bought nine years ago to keep me warm in Guatemala would be out in the freezing December rain of Portland Maine.  This black jacket has been through torrential downpours of Bogotá, kept me guarded from the winds of Okinawa, admired the fall leaves and majestic glaciers of Patagonia, and has even ridden the Ferris Wheel on the Santa Monica Pier.  Life never ceases to amaze me with its twists and turns that have led me to so many wonderful places, black jacket in tow. 

My black jacket has seen the world.  Take a minute, look through your clothes, find one of your older pieces be it a jacket, pants, gloves.  Think of all the life you've lived in that single piece of cloth, and reminisce.  You'll probably be surprised at how much life you've lived with something you didn't realize was there with you the whole time. 

Perito Moreno Glacier, Patagonia, Argentina
2013

Okinawa Island, Japan 2011