Every morning, I walk by these on the way out of my house and I think, I’m ashamed to have this many coats. So many people have no coat at all. I have too many. Yet I can’t figure out how to get rid of even one. I have coats of various weights for various types of weather. Within those weights, I have the ‘good’ coats that are suitable for ‘going out in public’ and then I have the ‘work’ coats for working. These are usually coats that were once ‘good’ coats but got ‘worn out’ and have since been relegated to work duty. Most of these stink of gasoline or oil or dirt as they’re what gets worn to snowblow or work in the yard. I have a coat for when it rains a bit, but is mild. I have a coat for when it rains harder, and is possibly colder. I have a coat for when it rains hard, is cold, and I want to ride my bike. And not get hit by a car. I also have vests. And fleeces. I have coats for when it’s cool or cold, but also one for when it’s ‘really fucking cold’. I sit sometimes and stare at these things and try to decide which ones can go. I can never decide. There was a time when I never thought about these things. That’s part of the problem. If i’d have known then what I know now, I’d never have acquired this many coats. So many things are like this. Particularly hard, important things. I’m reading a book about climate change. Serious, serious shit. How do I start? How do I start to change? “Start with one thing” is the cliché answer. Which thing? If I as a singular person can’t even figure out which coat to get rid of first, how are we as a society – a species – ever gonna make it? Apparently, if I’m to look at the positive, whatever type of killer storm that brings about the Apocalypse – surely I will have the proper coat for it.