Traveler’s Linen Blazer

Traveler's Linen Blazer.

My ticket takes me north out of Kings Cross, drifting past the English countryside. It’s spring. The weather’s warm. For my journey—admittedly for most journeys in the warmer months—I bring this linen blazer. 

Light, sharp, unstructured with a bit of stretch. I’ve yet to find an occasion where this jacket doesn’t thrive. 

I get off at York and trek across the River Ouse to meet my friend, Oliver, at a quiet pub. He arrives looking much the same: impeccably dressed, his border collie George at his heels. Without a word, he hands me a folded cloth, inside of which is a coin.

“Three-hundred A.D.” he says as I admire it. “Found it digging just beyond the walls.” Oliver arguably has the greatest private collection of Roman Empire era artifacts in all of western Europe.

“Is that a fact?” I ask.

“You’re holding it, Peterman. You tell me.”