Vecchia zimarra

That's the title of the aria the philosopher Colline sings in the fourth act of La Boheme--"Goodbye, Old Coat"--as he goes out to sell his overcoat to buy medicine for the dying Mimi. Here's a partial translation:

Old Coat, listen,
while I remain here, you must rise to the sacred mount.
My thanks you receive.
You never bent your back to the rich or powerful.
You carried in your pockets, like in calm caverns, philosophers and poets.
Now that the happy days have gone, I say to you: goodbye, my faithful friend.
Goodbye, goodbye.

Why, you ask, am I quoting an aria about a coat at 8 in the morning?

Well, I'm a packrat and i never, but NEVER, throw anything out. And last night I actually parted with two things, a bathrobe and an old coat.

What makes this worth blogging about? Listen:

The bathrobe was a Christmas gift to my older brother from our mother, back around 1970. When he went into the Army, my youngest brother inherited it. When he moved out, I started wearing it. It was one of those wrap and tie terry-cloth numbers, and I once flashed the entire neighborhood when, as I ran out to roll up the truck windows in a sudden rainstorm, I slipped and fell on my fanny. Luckily it was 2 a.m. and there was no one around to see! Later still, in the days before reliable flea meds, I used to put it on my first German Shepherd, Nixie--forelegs through the arms, a diaper pin to hold it closed in front, another to hold it snug around her ribs, and the tie at the "waist." She had terrible flea allergies, and sometimes had to be bathed when the weather was cold and she had practically dehaired herself scratching, so I needed to keep her warm while she was drying out.

Of course, no one who saw the old thing, worn and stained and with a pocket torn off and the ends of the ties chewed off by puppy teeth, would see those memories.

As for the coat, it was I believe a Land's End coat that came with the shell and a zip-in down jacket, so it was incredibly versatile, and very very warm when need be. The shell came down to mid-thigh, a comfortable, utilitarian length. I must have gotten it around the same time I got Stella, and I wore it in one configuration or another from about September to May when I walked her. I wore the shell for training until it was too hot to bear, because it had big bellows cargo pockets in front, easy to get into and just right for carrying huge amounts of treats (which won me the nick-name "Deep Pockets" from a friend) and other things--I used to carry all kinds of things in those pockets! The shell was big enough so even when I was very fat i could still get it zipped around me. But one pocket is torn at the top and has holes at the bottom, the cuffs and pocket tops are frayed and worn, as is the storm flap, it's all faded and the pocket bottoms have stains from hot dog grease, and I decided that the time had finally come to say Addio, fidele amico a Stella e mio.