Ever since Maria suffered some hypothermia during last weekend’s 24-hour storm, I’ve been lobbying for her to get a new and more protective winter coat. In the age of the Polar Vortex, this is no longer a luxury. Maria thinks buying anything new is a luxury. I bought her a heavy L.L.Bean super-warm coat for $239 as a birth day present, it was instantly rejected as being too long and clunky.

I know this risky. I can buy her leggings or jewelry that she likes, but clothes are trickier. And she ought to pick out her own clothes, although that does take away the element of surprise. Buying anything for Maria is fraught. She doesn’t like getting presents.

In Brattleboro, we decided she and I would go to Sam’s Outdoor Emporium and she would pick out a coat she liked. I insisted on buying it as a birthday present, because I knew if I didn’t, she would buy a liner for $25 and stick it into her fleece jacket or get an old jacket at the Thrift Shop.

That’s how she got hypothermia in the first place, John Wayne mated with someone in her family somewhere along the line.

The choice is, of course, up to her, nobody is going to tell Maria what to wear, especially a man. She instantly found the right coat for her, it is lined with a new kind of aluminum to retain body warmth and is snug and even has a pocket for her smart phone when she is taking videos.

And it is stylish, too, I think, although she denies that is factor.

We went out in it this cold  morning, it was about eight degrees, she was warm and comfortable. Success. And it was also on sale, which was even better as far as she is concerned: $160, down from $200. She did let me buy it. Happy Birthday, it kept her warm as she brought her gourmet bowl of treats out to the donkeys and the chickens.