The Coat Saga

The next time you take your coat from a public coat rack, take a close look. On December 17th after my husband and I finished eating at a Chinese restaurant as I took my coat next to his from the long rack by the front door and slipped my arm into the sleeve, it felt tight. I took a look at the label. This was not my coat; but my black quilted coat with a hood was nowhere to be found. This coat's appearance was similar, but there were no gloves in the pockets and it definitely was a different brand. I left my name and telephone number with the owner who also works the payment desk. I hoped when the person who took my coat hung it up at home, she would realize it was not hers. 

Our church was to go Christmas caroling that afternoon. At first I was in a real funk. Finally I decided I was not going to let this incident ruin my day. I found my old blue coat with a broken zipper but that still snapped shut and a different pair of gloves. I got by OK. However, the forecast was for temperatures in the single digits and teens for the upcoming weekend. I waited until Wednesday around 1 p.m. and went back to the restaurant. By now it was warm enough for no jacket or a light jacket. A single coat hung on the rack: the black hooded ladies coat that was not mine. The restaurant had heard nothing.

I knew my old coat was probably not going to keep me warm enough once the frigid air arrived. I went to the store where I had purchased the coat 2 years ago hoping there would be something similar. They didn't even have that brand, but the store's online site had something by that brand and on sale at a good price. Midnight was the deadline for free shipping. I ordered it with free expedited shipping with the possibility of getting it by Saturday. By the time the web store processed the order, the FedEx message said delivery by Tuesday after Christmas. Then FedEx posted that because of wind shear problems in Memphis the coat would not arrive until Wednesday after Christmas. I would have to make do. 

I had loved my black coat. It took me a long while to find a coat that fit well with all of the features I wanted. I knew its disappearance was a mistake, but I still harbored bad feelings toward the person who had my coat. I struggled some to release these feelings and to forgive her, but finally I was at peace.

Upon arriving at church Christmas Eve morning, there hung my coat. Oh, oh. I was the one who had taken the wrong coat and wore it to the restaurant. I went back to the Chinese restaurant to retrieve the other coat. Then I posted an email message to the church list explaining that I had taken the wrong coat and to call me so I could return it quickly. Nobody called. Well it was a holiday and the lady could be out of town. It was not until Thursday morning that a lady from my church called. My husband took the call. She hadn't noticed the email (though I checked and she was included), but somebody else mentioned it to her when she told them about her coat. It is now safely back in her possession. I asked for her forgiveness for causing her problems. She graciously forgave.

It was a blessing that the new coat did not arrive until after Christmas. Since I now had my coat back, I returned the internet-ordered coat to the local store per the instructions. I had not worn it or removed the tags, and the whole return process was easily accomplished. 

I learned how attached I could be to one of my possessions; I saw God work things out with the delay of the new coat to ease its return; I was humbled from causing another person to worry and to wonder. This morning when the man behind me teased that he was sitting behind a coat thief, I smiled back. I now keep a cheap scarf in my coat pocket which I place around the hanger so there will be no doubt it is mine. Take a good look at that coat you grab.

Iridescent Clouds

On the drive home from my sister-in-law's house on Christmas Day I saw a phenomenon that was new to me. The cirrus cloud in the sunny sky looked like it had a piece of rainbow in it. This was an iridescent cloud where the ice crystals in the sky around and in the cloud diffract the light into a prism. It stayed that way for at least 10 minutes. 

This afternoon coming home from the restaurant, I saw another cloud with irisation. In this one the colors were fainter and softer. I think a bigger cloud near it also had a little bit of color at the edge, but again not as distinct as the Christmas Day phenomenon. 

I did not have my camera with me either day; the photo above is from the internet, and the colors are a bit darker and more distinct than what I saw. Have you ever seen this?

Merry Christmas to You!

Third Time's The Charm

Remember the hiking boots I showed you when I went to Merry Lea? They were not water-proof, and the dew from the grass soaked through them.

They were about 12 years old. I bought them in a northern suburb of Dallas at an outlet mall. I wore them very little until we moved to Indiana; then I found them a good choice for walking on snowy or slick surfaces because of the good tread. I had repaired the left shoe 1 1/2 years ago where the toe connected to the "rubber" tip. The cobbler did a fine job. I planned to take the boots with me to Williamsburg for all the walking. They were comfortable. About 3 weeks before our trip, I noticed the side of the right shoe had separated from the sole. This was irreparable.

I looked at stores locally and finally in Fort Wayne. The selection of women's hiking boots was laughable. I wanted water-proof ones and could find only two different hiking boots to try on after searching half a dozen stores including sports stores. None of them were water-proof.  
I finally searched Zappos and Amazon (which does not necessarily carry the same shoes as Zappos even though they bought Zappos). A good number of choices and reviews were helpful. I had ordered from Zappos maybe 9 years ago; my husband had used my account a few times since. 

Though I really liked the fit of my old Timberland boots, I decided to order the Ahnu Montara boots after reading the reviews. They arrived two days later. The shoe part of the boot was so comfortable, and the boots were light-weight and didn't look clunky. However, the part that came up around the ankle rubbed that protruding bone on the outside. It was easy to return them. I have a UPS agent in the Staples near my home. I received email permission from Zappos to return, printed the return label, and they were shipped free for me back to Zappos.

For the second try, I ordered Timberland Chocorua Trail boots. Determining the right size to order is apparently a big deal for hikers. I ordered the size I wore in my old boots. Maybe if you were backpacking and wearing heavy socks, you would go up half a size. The fit was fine for me. The part up around the ankle rubbed slightly but would have been tolerable. However, one of the reviews mentioned how this boot showed creases when flexing the foot. Indeed it did. I didn't like the material very well anyway, but after walking thru my house with the boots on, a crease formed above the tongue and the color of the crease was different from the original color. It was ugly. So back they went.

By now, it was too late to order boots for the trip. I took my Nike walking shoes. However, I did an internet search for a REI store and found one in Columbus, Ohio, near to our route to Williamsburg. I wanted to look at a boot by Vasque. I tried them on in this REI store, and the boots were uncomfortable. I had already decided that I probably didn't need a boot with ankle support and could get by with hiking shoes rather than boots. Since the Ahnu boots had been comfortable except for the ankle rubbing, I chose the Montara hiking shoe. REI had them, but not in my size. But at least I had eliminated the Vasque so the stop was worthwhile. REI has lots of hiking boots/shoes for women in its stores.

After we came home, I ordered from Zappos the Ahnu Montara hiking/trail shoes. This time I kept my ordered shoes. 

Since we have a wintery precipitation mix tomorrow and snow Sunday, I will have a chance to see if these are truly water-proof and if the tread works well.

My experience with Zappos was positive. Free shipping and free return shipping if needed. I would recommend them especially if you have trouble finding your size in stores or for specialty shoes like these hiking ones. There is a long return period so I could send these back if they don't perform as described, but I'm pretty sure they are keepers.