The Opposite of Love is a Wool Coat

by Alison Doernberg

I shuffled through my first six New England winters in a sturdy wool coat. More often than not, it kept me from being cold. When I finally bought a down jacket, it was a revelation. For the first time, I discovered that I could actually be warm, instead of just not being cold. I befriended winter. This realization ultimately extended beyond outerwear; it prompted a revisiting of all past relationships through a newly dichotomous lens and drew me forward with unexpected clarity – seeking warmth, only warmth, instead of just the absence of cold.

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Alison Doernberg, author of Glasses, now lives in California, where down is wholly unnecessary.