I have a brown tweed coat. It's falling apart at the sleeves and it's too big for me. It stays in the closet all year until the weather turns. Usually sometime in October.
My office is 100 yards from my house. Every morning I make my trek to work. Barefoot in the summer. But the rest of the year I wear moccasins... and my big brown coat.
It's September. It started raining yesterday. So I opened the closet and there it was. Like an old friend.
I remember 1987. We were broke and we had a new baby girl. I was able to book a one week tour up in Seattle so we packed our bags and my guitar. Before we left, my friend Roby loaned me his guitar case because he traveled with that a lot. He also loaned me something else. His big brown tweed coat. "You need to wear this when you're in Seattle because it's colder there and... you look good in it".
So we boarded the plane. My wife, my baby girl, my guitar, and me wearing Roby's big brown coat.
It was just one week in the Pacific Northwest but it felt like home. There was something familiar about the place even though we had never been there. We loved the rain, the water, the mountains, the trees, and the city. And wearing that coat in some unusual way made me feel like I was part of it all.
That was 28 years ago.
I never gave him his coat back. And Roby never asked for it. It just became mine somehow.
We both eventually moved from Southern California up to the Pacific Northwest. We shared a lot of dreams about life and music. Over the years we would hang out in his recording studio, play guitar, philosophize, and smoke cigarettes. We both got older. Roby got more tattoos and I got more gray hair.
Then at Christmas time in 2007 I got a phone call. We lost Roby.
Just like that. He was gone.
Today the weather changed and now something familiar begins. I put my arms into the sleeves of this ragged brown coat that's too big for me. But it keeps me warm. It makes me think of 1987. It makes me think of the rain. It makes me think of why we love this place and moved here. It makes me feel like I'm a part of it. It makes me think about growing up.
And now It makes me think about somebody I miss.
Goodbye Roby. What a ride.
Thanks for the coat.
My office is 100 yards from my house. Every morning I make my trek to work. Barefoot in the summer. But the rest of the year I wear moccasins... and my big brown coat.
It's September. It started raining yesterday. So I opened the closet and there it was. Like an old friend.
I remember 1987. We were broke and we had a new baby girl. I was able to book a one week tour up in Seattle so we packed our bags and my guitar. Before we left, my friend Roby loaned me his guitar case because he traveled with that a lot. He also loaned me something else. His big brown tweed coat. "You need to wear this when you're in Seattle because it's colder there and... you look good in it".
So we boarded the plane. My wife, my baby girl, my guitar, and me wearing Roby's big brown coat.
It was just one week in the Pacific Northwest but it felt like home. There was something familiar about the place even though we had never been there. We loved the rain, the water, the mountains, the trees, and the city. And wearing that coat in some unusual way made me feel like I was part of it all.
That was 28 years ago.
I never gave him his coat back. And Roby never asked for it. It just became mine somehow.
We both eventually moved from Southern California up to the Pacific Northwest. We shared a lot of dreams about life and music. Over the years we would hang out in his recording studio, play guitar, philosophize, and smoke cigarettes. We both got older. Roby got more tattoos and I got more gray hair.
Then at Christmas time in 2007 I got a phone call. We lost Roby.
Just like that. He was gone.
Today the weather changed and now something familiar begins. I put my arms into the sleeves of this ragged brown coat that's too big for me. But it keeps me warm. It makes me think of 1987. It makes me think of the rain. It makes me think of why we love this place and moved here. It makes me feel like I'm a part of it. It makes me think about growing up.
And now It makes me think about somebody I miss.
Goodbye Roby. What a ride.
Thanks for the coat.
Beautifully expressed. I am looking forward to all that you are going to share on your blog.
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