IT'S ON THE WAY...

Winter is on the way!

I saw a flock of geese headed south and not one of them was flying off to the side like they'd changed their mind about leaving the nice weather in the north. No, sir! They were in perfect formation and knew exactly where they were headed.

That alone was not enough to convince me. After all, it was still 90 degrees out there in the back yard BUT that very day the catalog came with all those delicious chocolates, fruit cakes, cheeses and sausages that we order every year. No savvy business would spend that much on those lovely color pages if winter was not on the way.

So I rushed to the closet where my winter clothes are kept, dusted off the doors and threw them open. It's been so long since I wore them visions of obese moths with acute indigestion filled my head. But there they were--sweaters, long sleeved shirts, and even coats--right where I put them a hundred years ago. Okay! Okay! So I'm exaggerating a bit but it does seem like summer has lasted that long.

The rule is that I should take out each outfit, sweater, shirt, skirt or  jacket and think about when I wore it last. If it's been more than a year then I should seriously consider giving it away. But the practical side of my brain reminded me that if I tossed everything into a garbage sack and sent it off to my friend's church clothes closet for the needy, then I would have to shop. And today's market is geared toward tall, skinny women--both of which I am not!

There were a couple of items that were questionable. The last time I wore that cute little black and white checkered suit was when my oldest son was in high school and he just turned 47 last week. But history does repeat itself as we all know so well and if I kept it, then it might be worth thousands of dollars as a vintage suit someday. It didn't hurt anything just hanging there in the closet and the fabric was poison to moths. Besides it fit me so well.

Just to be sure, I jerked it off the hanger and slipped it on. OMGoodness! It had shrunk!

The summer heat had penetrated into the darkest corners of my closet and shrunk it...right along with all the rest of my winter things. Waistbands, too tight. Sleeves bound my upper arms. Everything was at least two sizes too small. Blasted hot summer had killed off half my fat cells by sweating them out of my body and now this?

I was almost afraid to look at the shoes lined up neatly on the closet floor. I expected them to be shrunk down to fit Barbie but they appeared to be the right size--at least on the outside. Summer heat has a way of fooling a person so the inside could still be too small. I crammed my sweaty little foot down into one and almost wept tears of sheer relief. It fit me. I would not have to shop for shoes and I didn't care if my favorite pair wasn't in style. They were comfortable and the fit me. Barbie could go barefoot all winter. At that moment, I didn't care if she got frost bite on her toes!

Maybe by the time the geese get to the their southern paradise and I get serious about buying fruit cakes and chocolates, winter will truly push summer out of the picture. The cold wind will penetrate to the darkest corners of my closet and make my clothes the right size again. I shut the closet door and decided I would not give them all away for one more year. Winter could work miracles.

I can only hope!