Another Rainy Day
Thu., June 18, 12:38 PM
It’s bookmobile day — one of those days when I like to take the trike… And once again it is raining. It seems to me — I need to check Dr. Mel’s statistics — as if we have had three days of rain for every dry day. The other day Mel suggested (without saying it was necessarily so) that the volcanic eruptions in Alaska last March might have released gases that reflected the sun’s heat back into space. Whatever it is, most days are either too wet or too cold to ride.
Well, I’m not starting up the car just to go one block. I figured I could walk. It was wet enough that I wore my long raincoat. I do like that raincoat. I don’t even know if anyone sells Totes® raincoats any more, though the umbrellas are still available.
In the 1960’s Totes® were The Thing to Buy if you wanted something you could pack easily. You could fit an umbrella into your bag (along with your lunch and a spare pair of pantyhose), and it would open up large enough to keep you dry. At the time I decided that my London Fog® was no longer my best choice, I found myself looking at Totes. I think that was after the babies, when I had become a little… never mind, TMI.
Women who considered themselves professionals — as opposed to those who were cute and used for office decoration — were still being advised to stick to dark, unobtrusive garments. But I felt that, on a gloomy day, I wanted something brighter, so that I could be seen. I chose a pink Totes. I loved wearing it, as we enjoy anything that makes us look good. And then it got a little tight and I just left it in the closet.
Three years ago, I lost a little weight and I tried on my “old” raincoat. It fits again. I love that it has a hood and that it goes down to my ankles, effectively protecting me from head to foot. (I button it crooked when I expect to be climbing a lot of stairs, so that I don’ have to hold onto it.) I put a hoodie under it today, not only to keep me warm but to provide a pocket for my reading glasses.
It was raining hard enough this morning that my waterproof jackets were not sufficient, so I wore the long raincoat. I walked down the street; the coat was wet, but I was dry. As I opened the door to the bookmobile, another reader said, “Oh, I like that color for a raincoat.” I thought I would find out where she could buy one, but the few that I found — looks like they are not manufactured now — were about $40, which I know she couldn’t afford. I don’t think I paid half that, back in the day.
I returned three books, two of which I had not read. One was a novel that was going nowhere, as far as I could tell. The other was nonfiction, about the baseball business in the late 1950’s. It was unbelievably dull. I keep trying to find the baseball that I used to love; all I ever find is analysts in love with sound of their own voices.
Walking two blocks isn’t much exercise. Maybe some housework would be good; I can stop before I get too tired.
