If you happened to misplace a pair of fuzzy-cuffed black gloves while in Newton sometime this weekend, as of this morning they were waiting for you at the Village Bank ATM in Waban Square.
I can easily imagine misplacing my gloves while fumbling with cash, keys, and wallet at an outdoor ATM on a frigid weekend…but I can’t imagine going far without them. In only a matter of minutes, I think, my fingers would loudly let me know that I’d left something important behind. But then again, maybe the unfortunate owner of these lost gloves owns several pair. Maybe by the time she got back to her car, she grabbed the second pair she keeps there, or the third pair she keeps in her coat, or a fourth pair she keeps in her purse. Or maybe in the glove-rich town of Newton, she’s found that matched pairs grow on trees.
I’m serious about my multiple-pair theory because I do own about a half-dozen (at least) pairs of gloves, and I do parse them out so I’m almost never without a pair close at hand (pun intended). Over the years, I’ve learned to stock up on new gloves in the spring, when stores sell them at deep discount, then I stick them in the pockets of every coat I own. I stick the rest in a ragtag bag of winter wear I keep stashed in the closet over the summer, then right about now I transfer that bag to my car in case I ever find myself stranded and in need of an extra hat, scarf, or mismatched pair of mittens. You never know. When it comes to gloves and other cold-weather wear, I definitely subscribe to my mother’s philosophy that it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Hoarded Ordinaries 
Nov 23, 2008 at 3:43 pm
It’s gloves weather here too, with a dusting of snow last night. I was absolutely delighted when sontwo emerged from “tidying” his room with the left-hand of my pair of sheepskin gloves which had been missing for not one, not two but *three* winters past. I had thought seriously about throwing away the right-hand which had remained in my care but fortunately hope triumphed over experience and I kept it. They are now reunited and my hands are warm!
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Nov 23, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Yes, it’s funny how attached you can become to a particular pair of gloves! I have an old pair of leather gloves that I’ve “retired” because the index finger of one hand has worn out (from, I think, too much shutter-snapping since it’s my camera finger!) Although I’ve replaced this particular pair of gloves, I haven’t thrown them out because they fit me perfectly in the way that only old leather gloves can. They look terrible, but they fit like skin. I have them stashed away somewhere as another “just in case” pair.
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Nov 23, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Not having had the need for gloves for years, I remember getting caught in that cold spell in Boston last December and being reminded very fast what it was like to have frosty fingers (not to mention other appendages)! I wish I could send you some California sunshine…
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Nov 23, 2008 at 11:25 pm
I keep extra pairs of mittens and gloves in my car, my house, my backpack, my purse, pretty much all over the place. If one pair gets wet, I like to be able to grab a dry pair. And we always have extra winter stuff at the house for any kids who come over and aren’t prepared for the weather.
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Nov 24, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Yeah, I recently cast a sad eye over my old pair of skin-fit leather gloves, where the right thumb is falling apart but the left one was worn but still intact. Decided they couldn’t be salvaged, but before I threw them out I cut out all the usable leather to save for a little project sometime…a leather-bound journal spine or something? just couldn’t quite let them go completely. Good idea about the bag in the car…ahhh, winter.
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