East is East, Vest is Vest

Another thing that happens every year at this time is seeing people, mostly young people with highly developed senses of style and fashion, rushing the season a bit by wearing their winter coats long before it's time to do so.

But it's not all kids. I saw a man with his his own kids on Saturday, all dressed up as if he were ready to go on an arctic expedition. The weather? Well it was cloudy, but the temperature was in the upper 50s, maybe even 60-something. It was all finished, the rain was. The outfit? One of those wool, red-and-black checked baseball-style caps that we normally associate with Darryl or Darryl from "Newhart." The boots were fawn-colored NuBuck Timberlands, left open at the ankle so that the jean cuffs could flop around foppishly. But the topper was the heavy Norwegian-style fisherman's sweater worn UNDER one of those hefty, chunky, burly, husky down-filled vests. I'm telling you, he had to be roasting underneath all that, but I guess the kids would have ragged on him mercilessly if he had starting divesting himself of, well, the vest.

So when I got home, I got out the Oslo, Norway, telephone directory, and called the following people: Arvid, Asbjørn, Canute, Didrik, Edvard,and Ludvik, and none of them could see the sense in wearing a Norwegian fisherman's sweater when no real Norwegian fisherman is wearing one yet. It's about 39°F in Oslo these days, and if they can handle that, we can handle a trip to Shoppers Food Warehouse and Home Depot without bundling up.

Right?