Green Street
Snow has descended on Bath a few times over the past decade, so we cannot be certain exactly when this next email happened. We are chasing up Amara to see if she still has the piece of lead.
A: Green Street is in the centre of Bath. If you head down on a busy summer day or during the Christmas market you will have to weave between dense streams of tourists and locals. But during the blizzard only the bravest staggered past me, dressed in thick clothing with fur linings.
A thin hoodie, jeans and Converse were not the right clothes for this weather, and I walking at about half of my usual pace. I only went out for a pint of milk. Waitrose’s current opening status was a mystery from their website, but I decided to take the risk that a few brave cashiers took on the weather. The journey proved more arduous than expected.
I needed a coat. That is a basic way of putting it, but when you are stuck outside with no chance of getting warm clothing, this was less a basic desire, and more of a toddler’s rant.
The doorway of a local shop provided a few minutes relent from snowflakes digging into my eyeballs, I stamped on the cold ground with my hands tucked deep into my armpits.
In the middle of my dance I spotted a woman in the doorway opposite me.
Despite the weather she wore a long silk dress and sandals. Sandals! They made my Converse look like tanks. I shouted across a greeting, if only to make sure she was OK. Perhaps she had lost her keys. That outfit was the accomplice of hypothermia.
She smiled, and nodded her head. Said something about heading back. Her voice was lost even in the low breeze. I was about to ask if she needed a hand, but she marched away without a rub of her bare arms. Hanging from the door handle of her shelter cum doorway was a black padded jacket. More fashionable than mountain wear, but warm nonetheless.
From a normal perspective, taking it was the wrong thing to do. But me and that coat were friends within a minute. In this weather I would have put on a warm clown suit.
Waitrose was closed. But my walk back was a snug one.
The coat is super comfy, and suitable for every excursion from October to February. My choice of the present tense is quite deliberate. That coat is now my favourite coat. Even more so since I saw your advert.
One more thing. I completed a thorough check of both pockets, to see if there was an address, or any kind of identification. I found a square of metal, with little scratches carved into one side. Weird huh?
A photo from the last time it snowed in Bath.
