My Winter Hat

So… Now that most of the snow is gone and the sun actually shines hot, I suppose that it is time for me to put away my winter hat. Now this is no ordinary winter hat; it is a hat the fits well and feels good… No, it actually feels great. It’s not the type of hat that holds to your head snug making you feel like your hair is plastered down on your head or rips hair from your scalp. It is a hat that sits comfortably on your head, goes down on your ears and stays there with just the right tension.

It is also a very ugly hat! At least that is what most people tell me. Now, being the age that I am, other people’s comments do not bother me. All I know and all I care about is that my hat is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most comfortable hat around. As a matter of fact, it is also the piece of clothing I have owned longer than anything else I have worn. Forty years longer for that matter!

This hat is not one you would wear for styling. There is no real shape to it other than it fits my head shape to a “T.” My parents bought it for me while I was a young lad in Quebec, Canada. Back then and up there, the winter weather was brutal. A number of years later, after dad moved us to Ontario, Canada, I wore this winter hat during the bitter cold long distance runs we used to do during cross country training throughout the winter.

Nowadays, since I don’t wear hats too often, I don’t get the opportunity to wear hats as much but I still make sure that I don’t lose it though, during the times where I am unable to find it, I swear that someone in my family has hidden it or stolen it. I have a number of other hats but have no desire to wear them. Most of them have been gifts in hopes I would pitch out the old and welcome the new…No such luck!

This past winter, with the amount of snow we have received, I have spent many a warm time with it while shoveling the sidewalks. Last week, I had plans to put it away for the season but when I decided to get my hair buzzed, I needed to keep my head warm when the temperature dipped a little bit the other day. The way I figure it, it should be put into hibernation by the time the warm spring weather rolls around into the weekend. There will be no pomp or ceremony, just put away quietly until the blizzards of next winter come whistling through the neighbourhood.