Outfitting for winter

As the damp, overcast weather descends this fall, I felt mighty chilly. I scrounged around the back of my closet searching for warm clothes. Everything was short-sleeved, light weight and summer. I didn’t find any long, warm, fuzzy winter clothing to wear. Nothing.
I settled on a short-sleeved, white shirt and jumper and wrapped up in my winter jacket.
After a chilly morning of work, I dashed to a clothing store at lunch time and bought a long-sleeved, navy blue turtleneck to replace my short sleeved white shirt.
The next few days I searched our closets in vain for warm clothes. Finally conceding I had none, I wrote a list for a basic winter wardrobe: Slacks, shirts and sweaters.
Thanksgiving day, my children and I studied the ads for the traditional opening day for Christmas shopping. Local shops allured me to visit their store first with special prices for early shoppers. Some of the early bird sales advertised items that filled my list of clothes to buy. The day after Thanksgiving, I felt so energetic when I rose early to shop the town before going to work. I dashed from store to store. I bought a couple Christmas gifts, but I stocked up on clothes for myself: Slacks and turtleneck shirts in white, burgundy, turquoise and black.
I felt mighty proud of my purchases. I had found some terrific buys on warm shirts and slacks. I would be warm. I smiled contentedly as I parked and walked into the office. In a couple pre-dawn, pre-work hours I had done, good, real good.
The next week on casual Friday, I thought I would wear something Christmasy. A vague memory haunted me of a hot summer day when I had purchased a Christmas sweatshirt at a garage sale. I rummaged through the drawers, the hall closet and bedroom rack or clothes. I even checked my daughter’s closet. I could not find it. No Christmas sweatshirt, plus I realized I still had not purchased any sweaters. I compromised and wore the new burgundy turtleneck shirt with slacks and promised myself another shopping trip when life was not so hectic with errands and holiday events.
Sunday morning as I again contemplated my wardrobe wishing I had more options in winter clothes, I suddenly realized I had those options. Last spring with gentle breezes warming the air, winter clothes suffocated me. Fed up with a closet overflowing with clothes for all seasons, I yanked every single one of my long-sleeved shirts and sweaters off their hangars, folded them neatly and laid them to red n the cedar chest – just for the summer. When I looked for them in the fall, they ere out of sight and literally out of mind until then.
I felt ridiculous as I opened that cedar chest and pulled out maroon, white, black and navy turtleneck shirts. Underneath the shirt were my garage sale Christmas sweatshirt and three sweaters.
My momma once said, “Joan has it all together, she just doesn’t know where it’s at.” Maybe my momma was right.