Layers

Preparing for my walk this morning, I applied five layers – five – and yesterday morning I topped it off with a hat and scarf. Reminiscing on my time in Scotland and New Jersey, I felt a little silly wearing all these layers for a quick walk around the neighborhood. The winters I spent in actual frigid parts of the world required such layering on a daily basis.

After a few months of taking hours each day dressing for the weather (ok, this is an exaggeration), frustration for wearing so many clothes set in. Going to the bathroom is more of a chore when you have on hose and leggings and pants! Once, on my weekly weekend excursions to NYC, I defied the weather and wore only a long sleeved shirt and my coat – ha!; it was a gloriously chilly victory.

In these frosty parts of the world, you notice that there is a different definition for what is warm. While I was studying in Edinburgh, I met a Scottish friend in a café on a day in April. The weather was not near as cold as it had been and even I was only wearing a jacket (and a camisole and a long sleeved shirt . . . and a scarf), but I noticed many a Scot dressed in tank tops and skirts and other skin-baring clothes. I asked my friend if, in fact, people simply got used to the cold eventually. She said that, no, they realized it was still nippy out, but that since shop owners put the clothes in the shops, why not wear them! Well, I suppose that is a reasonable enough response.

Likewise, I realize that this morning was not actually a 5-layer-cold kind of day, but I have the clothes – why not wear them? Also, at 6 o’clock, it felt like a 5-layer-cold kind of day. I was tempted to bring my blanket along for the walk as well.

As a side note, I’d like to be in Edinburgh today. (And always.)