It snowed this morning here in Salt Lake. I kind of expected it because

1. It almost always snows the week of Halloween
2. They’ve been saying it would on the radio all weekend, and the weather didn’t argue.

This meant that I got to bring out my leather jacket – which I love. This act reminded me that I’ve had this coat for eleven years now. I bought it the night of the Depeche Mode Concert (one of the best shows I’ve ever been to – soooo high energy, regardless of the fact that they’re not top on my favorite list). The following summer I moved to Georgia, and was so bummed because I thought I might not be able to wear it again that winter. The snow and ice storm we had over Christmas/New Year proved me wrong ^_^

But why did it matter? We put some thought into this memory stroll this morning and figured it out. It’s because it was my first leather jacket. I bought it myself, I had wanted one for years beforehand. It was like one of those signs that I’d finally come into my own. It didn’t matter that I owned my own car, or had a good paying job – I could afford the frivoloty of a coat that cost three times what a non-leather jacket would have.

Which is what makes this such an appropriate occasion to pull the coat after storage for its eleventh winter. Another first
Daily Flash 2011: 365 Days of Flash Fiction. This is the first anthology I’ve appeared in that’s listed on Amazon.com ^_^. I’m on Decemeber 22, for anyone who wants to read ahead. The story is called “Dying for Immortality”. But I’ve seen the pre-press copy so I know you should read them all. Don’t skip anything.

Amazon says there are no copies in stock – so go order it directly from the publisher, Pill Hill Press.

Makes a great Christmas gift for that hard to shop for person – a 500 word or less short story for every day of the year.