It's below zero and the windchill is tough. I cope by dressing for it, wearing heavy, leather trimmed Orvis cords and layers of wool stitched together by the fine folks at Filson Woolens (for which I've been getting a raft of shit from an email group of gentlemen who live in tropical places .... like ... Michigan). It all made me recall this from a few years ago. Here's to winter and the Old Man, who taught me how to dress for conditions, not for style.
The Old Man’s winter was warm
A time for layers of wool and leather
Pendleton shirt, leather vest, open coat
Whipcord wool pants loosely tucked
In unzipped rubber overshoes
Mackinaw cap worn flaps up
Tie strings dangling
I am older by five years than my Old Man lived
Yet day by day becoming more like him
Out and about on my northland business
Filson cruiser with a shearling collar
And matching woolen cap
Warm against the biting wind
Flap strings still undone
Passing by dark store windows
I sense his presence and glimpse
A walking stride for stride reflection
Of an Old Man in wool and leather
We both smile and nod, knowing
"You cannot put a price on personal comfort."
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