Hats

I've stated before (and if I didn't, I should have) that my life is a series of ritualistic events strung together like a paper clip necklace. Living, to me, is what happens between those moments.

When I get home, I follow essentially the same procedure. Pet the dog, kiss the wife, throw jewelry, keys, phone, and money clip in the crystal bowl by the fridge, and then change clothes.

But I don't fully make the transition from work to my time until I put on a hat. I don't know what it is about wearing a hat, but I love wearing them.

When I was a pre-teen, we visited Aunt Rosie and her family over Christmas break. We stayed there several days before heading back over the western slope. As my mom was getting in the car, my aunt asked her if I was starting to lose my hair. Why, no, my mother replied, Why do you ask?

Aunt Rosie observed that from the time I woke up to to the time I went to bed, I wore a hat.

I guess that wearing a hat makes me feel that any moment, I could be called into a baseball game. At the very minimum, it makes me feel like I should be outdoors.

Over the years, my Favorite Hat has changed. I'm sure when I was a kid, it happened to be whatever Little League team I was on that year - Braves or Astros.

In high school, it was my NY Mets hat.

During college, I had a wonderful Indiana Hoosiers hat I wore everywhere. The inside right of the hat had hundreds of ink stains where I would vertically store my pen while not taking notes.

Shortly after getting engaged, Melissa told me something had to be done about the hat. She didn't like the way it smelled; I thought it was fine. I was greatly confused at the time and thought marriage was a series of worthy compromises designed to make us both happy.

I washed the hat. It was never the same again and I ended up throwing it away.

Lyle, I should have listened to you the first time. Yes, you can have my girl, but don't touch my hat.

Logan ate my next favorite hat (a UT hat) as a trick I think was taught to her by her Aggie mother; it was replaced, but with a Yankees cap.

Three years ago, Brooke gave me a Texas hat for Christmas. I can assure you it was the first Cates dollar spent toward The University in over 40 years.

Like most of my hats, it has made the full rotation. It started out as the hat I wore every day. After it got too dirty for daily usage, it became a golf hat. After it got too dirty for golf (or I had too many bad rounds), it becomes a yard hat.

Also over the years, I've collected a series of political hats I keep in the garage and only wear when I'm doing yard work. One from the annual golf tournament a former boss held, a Bush/Cheney '04 hat, one from the RNC convention in '04, and one from last year's White House Easter Egg weekend.

A couple of weeks ago, I won a green and orange NASCAR hat with the embroidered signature of whoever races the number eleven car. Laugh now, but I like how it fits; I'm keeping it.

My latest favorite is an old school Yankee's hat styled from the 1930's that Eric gave me. It has a wonderul fit and looks great.

Sooner or later, I know the Yankees hat will become a Golf Hat. After a while, it will then find itself in the garage only to be worn on the weekends when the lawn needs cutting.

In some odd way, hats hold more than just the top of my head; they hold many fond memories.