I went to the pharmacy to pick something up and when I came out, Maria had vanished, I knew she was in the NV Consignment store on Main Street, a new place. In the time I’ve know her, Maria has never bought a new piece of retail clothing, she has one or two new pieces that I bought her. Four months ago, her now famous pink pasture boots got torn and I realized recently that she has been wearing them out to the pasture in the rain and cold, even though her feet get wet.  She does not ever buy new clothes, and has never bought a piece of clothing online.

Today, prowling through this store in our town of Cambridge – she says it is one of the best she has seen – she found a skirt she loved for $9 and a pair of green plastic boots from France for $8. She wore them this afternoon, she loved them. The owner of the store came over to me and asked if it was customary for me to photograph my wife while she shops – she would never let her husband near her when she shops, she said.

Listen, I said, my wife is an artist. She wears her wedding dress out to the pasture to shovel manure, that’s all I can tell you. She looked at both of us curiously. This was a fun place, and it is so rare for Maria to buy anything for herself that I made a fuss and paid for the skirt. I think a gift certificate would be a good idea.