Today I had to pay a large amount of money to pick up Lil' Fatty from the impound lot. I paid the money at a dingy marshal's storefront in Bay Ridge and picked up the car at a disorganized lot in Bushwick. The only viable subway route took me (there and) back through South Brooklyn, Wall Street, Chinatown, changing at Union Square, continuing through Williamsburg, depositing me a fifteen minute walk from the lot. Today I think the temperature peaked at 19˚ Fahrenheit. Once at the lot I turned over my receipt and car key to a very unpleasant woman and proceeded to wait, outside, with no wind cover, for an hour and some minutes. The commute was circuitous, the wait, long and frigid. I had quite a bit of time to think about certain things. I remembered things. I remembered and thought about a lot of things.
I read my brown paper bag book and thought about my clothes.
I bought the red canvas North Face jacket at an outlet sale in Carlsbad ten years ago. There was a red one and a blue one on sale out of a big cardboard box. Apparently they were design samples that "didn't make the cut." I chose the red jacket. I have been glad for it ever since.
I found the Carhartt overalls at a stoop sale on Driggs four or five years ago. Last year I wore the overalls to Mollusk surf shop where the owner, Chris, recognized me as the guy who bought the Carhartt overalls he wished he had never sold.
The blue loose wool fisherman's sweater is from a shop at Pike Place Market in Seattle, purchased in the company of my wife eleven or so years ago. It is thick and wide and can fit over almost anything as a sort of woolen suit of armor.
The green Swedish Army wool zip up sweater is from Kiosk. I remember seeing Irvin Coffee in one first. He has great fashion sense.
The t-shirt is sky blue and the Patagonia silky long sleeve shirt smells permanently of body odor.
Last year, I purchased the snug-fitting gray cotton long johns at the 99¢ store down the street. They were not 99¢ but were still very inexpensive.
My son gave me the striped socks for my birthday last year.
The waterproof Clark boots come from one of those black and yellow shoe stores that used to dot Broadway in Soho. I bought them a month or two before a trip to London and Belgium four years ago. They show remarkably little wear and tear.
My wife initially made fun of me for buying the heavy-linen woven dark gray scarf at Beacon's Closet. She thought it was ugly. This was a few years ago. She has since borrowed it multiple times.
The oldest bit of clothing worn today is the wool hat I got from a stall in Florence 18 or so years ago. It is black and white and tight fitting. I would see the African street vendors wearing the hat around Europe and when I found one I was pretty excited. I think I bought another blue one at the time and later gave it to someone. Maybe Kevin. Maybe not. Whoever it is probably doesn't have the same sort of affection for it that I do. It is called a Fezko and was made in the Czech Republic. I love that hat.
The wool gloves are of a rather heavy military variety. My wife gave them to me a couple years ago for my birthday or some other celebration of sorts.
