When the weather changed for the first time this fall I reached into my closet and grabbed a jacket for the first time in recent memory. This particular jacket is currently my favorite and brings back memories of one of the most magical trips I’ve ever been on. I remember the day I got it at the local outdoor clothing store in Memphis. Anticipating long hikes during a summer vacation in Iceland, I purchased it on clearance during the miserably hot summer in Memphis. The amount of hikes turned out to be far fewer than I imagined, but the jacket has still served me well for several years.
Reaching my hand into one of its pockets is always exciting. Sometimes it turns up money (coins from some past adventure) or a receipt for a forgotten meal. Most recently the pocket served as my own mini “room of requirement” and conjured up a tube of chapstick which I desperately needed on a frigid, windy day at the Grand Canyon. It had been in the coat pocket since I was wandering the streets of Hamburg almost a year earlier apparently suffering from chapped lips then as well. One day I hope to find a winning Powerball ticket or even a forgotten twenty, but until then I’ll have to be content with de-chapped lips.