I have a farm jacket. It is labeled XL. So it is a big warm farm jacket. Bigger than me. It hangs to my knees – more of a coat than a jacket. It is so large I can wear my wooly jersey underneath and still bend my arms. In fact it is so large it frequently gets caught on the aging fence posts. Nails catching on the fabric – not so fast, missy-missc. There is so much room in the jacket that I could fit a small child or a lamb in the jacket with me. Though I do not have a small child to warm. Or a lamb. Not anymore.
When my children were young I had a big coat of my dad’s – it was brown gabedine. It was so large and so long (right to my feet) on my skinny solo mother frame that we called it the hockey coat. While watching a kids hockey game from the sidelines the coat became a warm retreat. A small child would open the front and step in. Closing it up behind them. Their nimble little fingers buttoning themselves in. Upside down and back to front from the inside. Using mother and her coat as a tent. Sitting on her boots out of the cold morning wind. Peeking out of the opening in the coat every now and then to watch the game. That small child is now an officer of the law. Carrying a gun. A detective. Investigating interesting and sometimes dreadful stuff.
I can no longer entice her into my coat to keep her warm and safe.
More writing from this weekend. Alliteration. If you are a foundation member of the Fellowship of The Farmy you will remember this one. It is a better piece now. I am a better writer now with all this practice. Thank you for supporting me in this.
Have a lovely day.
The sun is shining this morning.
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
18 responses to “I have a jacket”
Rooom enough for Marcel!
I have a feeling Marcel did go straight down my jacket when he was born. When I was trying to save the twin.
Oh, bless the pair of them!
The Alliteration story is such a wonderful one, as are all of your stories actually!!! I can just imagine you running and jumping and twisting and turning with the enthusiasm of learning something new!!! I can actually imagine you then, and you doing pretty much the same thing now!. Maybe not with all the acrobatic skill of your then child, but with the enthusiasm of that same child! 🙂
I do still run around the farm – or jog on a rainy day. Actually, I walk in an icy day! 😂
Love the story Cecilia! I can see the entire scene vividly; so glad your little wings got a workout that day!
Those little girls wings. We have to be sure our own little girls are given full permission to unfurl them! Right?
Absolutely! Standard equipment.
Poignant ending to the coats story. A mothers instinct perhaps, to keep their children- their daughter safe even as an adult in a world so unlike what we knew as children ourselves. I think every mom should come with a big old heavy coat to be used as needed whenever it is needed.
I honestly try not to think about it. Australia is not anywhere near as violent as the states. But the job is all about dealing with bad people. A mother still worries.
I have an old raincoat like that. Bright yellow and hideous but my warmest jacket when it’s cold and windy out since I can layer so much under it.
That’s the one!!
Good morning Cali…..I just want to say that you have developed into a fabulous wordsmith. You describe things in such a wonderful way….it is pure joy coming here.
Jo
I wish that we would have a large coat big enough to always keep them safe and warm
Right? A mothers curse
Second time ‘round As they came… “not so fast, missy-missc” I didn’t actually “c” this the first time, lol.
Many memories from this. Big fleecy sweaters give good ‘Momma Snuggles’ for littles in search of comfort (be they tiny children, puppies & kittens) or the soothing quality of body heat when chilly and unwell…
The hockey coat gave me a sudden flash of memory. I had a divorced boyfriend who had young sons. When he had them at the weekend, we’d take them to the beach. I was horrified to learn that he didn’t realise that on a windy day, even in Australia, a small child will go blue with cold if not dried off quickly. I became Aunty Towel, because I always had one ready to dry them off so they could go off and be happy instead of standing miserably shivering, not knowing how to sort themselves out.
Aunty Towel is lovely!! Shivery cold kids are miserable.