Changing of the Guard

Small seems an inadequate description of the closets in my vintage 1925 house. They’re just tiny. I guess people didn’t accumulate as much stuff in those days. Back then, a good portion of our population had been in this country for only a few years, my grandparents included, and brought only a trunk’s worth of mementos and essentials from their mother countries. They made do with less and their closets reflected that.

Now that we’ve survived the polar vortex winter, the pollen vortex has arrived, and summer is fast approaching, or is here, depending on Mother Nature’s mood, or your location, it’s time for me to consider the annual changing of the guard – moving the closets around.

Except that lately, I am completely perplexed. Here on the East Coast, Mother Nature seems to be going through menopause and every day’s weather is different. We’re hot. We’re cold. We’re hot. We’re cold. Last night we had a mixture of rain and some kind of frozen precipitation.

It’s the middle of April.

It was eighty degrees two days ago.

I don’t know what to wear.

I give up.

A couple of years ago, in an attempt to gain space without a total closet re-do I took some magazine’s advice and bought two large under-the-bed storage containers. I neatly packed away some winter clothes and slid them behind the dust ruffle to hibernate the summer away. Then, I promptly forgot they were there. When I found them a couple of years later, it was like I had a whole new wardrobe, except that most of it didn’t fit, or was out of style.

Last fall I may have stashed stuff everywhere, under my beds, in my daughter’s closets, under my son’s bed, in the attic, but I don’t remember exactly where anything specific is located. I probably should have written up a cheat sheet or created a Seasonal Clothing GPS app.

Now every morning as the climate toys with us, I wonder what to wear and where to locate my other season clothes.

This spring, during Easter and Passover as you are hunting for pretty decorated eggs or the Afikoman, remember that I’ll be hunting for my other wardrobe. So, wish me luck.

But, if you see me wearing a wool sweater in July or a summer cami in December, don’t judge. I’m making a statement.

Or maybe, just maybe it’s just time for me to move to a one season climate.

California here I come.