Papa's Hats

My husband has never liked hats much. However,in summer and in winter, he does yield to the need to wear one. The sun is bright and the rays can be severely damaging to skin, especially an almost bald head. It's a sort of Austrailian 'out back' type of hat, with a brim all around, and netting in the crown area for free air flow.

In winter, the air is cold, and since he spends so much so much time outside, he has chosen a very special one to keep his head warm. I think it is his favorite. He calls it 'the rat'. He looks like a mountain man all through the cold months. It is made of a nylon, with quilted lining, and fur sections that he leaves folded upward, forming a circle around the crown. Only on the very coldest of days does he fold the fur down to cover his ears. When he does that, there are two little 'animal ears' that show at the top sides of his head. I call them squirrel ears.

My own favorite, however, is his felt Stetson. He looks so handsome in this article of clothing, and I do wish he'd wear it more often, but am happy to see it whenever he does. He owns a number of baseball caps but he doesn't choose to wear them. I don't know why. He just says he feels weird wearing those.

Our grandchildren seem to love their Papa's hats, especially Abigail. Whenever she is visiting, or we are visiting at their home, she invariably will grab whichever chapeau is in season, and she will run off with it. She will return, and remain just out of our reach, making silly faces, playing a sort of 'catch it if you can' game with Papa. I don't know why this is such fun, but it brings many giggles, so obviously it brings both of them pleasure.

Abigail has her own assortment of hats, but I'll keep the sharing of those for another day.