I was thinking about hats today, the ones we actually wear, as opposed to our positions in life. I’ve been wearing baseball hats for eons, okay maybe about 40 years, and you have to agree it is the ultimate solution to a bad hair day. Apparently I am prone to this predicament. Just the other day I realized I forgot my hat and had to barrow one from my daughter Julie. She of course wears this slightly modified type of baseball hat, I think it is referred to as an army style, and I loved it. I’m sorry, but she’ll never see that hat again. As the day progresses, I’m still wearing the stylish army hat, when Larry and I stumble upon a new winery, and decide to stop in for a quick taste. It’s situated in an old farm house, just off highway 101, outside of Hopland.
The wine is good, not GiaDomella, or Jackie Bahue, but definitely drinkable. We buy a bottle to defer the cost of tasting, but the best find is an army style hat, with the wineries logo. It is chic and adorable. I know, I know, how lucky am I? It cost about as much as the wine, but the hat will last, and wine as you know is a elusive commodity. Right? So jump forward to today, I’m running errands in Lakeport with my new trendy hat, when my husband says, “That is a much better style for you.”
What the hell? I’ve been wearing ugly baseball hats forever and now he tells me it wasn’t a good look. Clearly I need to let go of my old hats, especially when they no longer serve, drop them off at the Good Will, or just deposit them in the trash. I can’t help but associate the changing of hats with my changing position in life. I am no longer the primary caregiver of small children. I’ve taken on new rolls, like teacher, grandma, and writer (want-a-be). I can hang up my old hats, put on something more suitable, something that compliments my current situation. If a hat is the ultimate solution to a bad hair day, then our roles in this life must also provide good cover, the fedora that defines us as individuals.
(The Fedora was adopted as a symbol for the women’s rights movement but that’s another blog) We might wear several hats each day, but sometimes we need to let go of the role we were just in, and embrace the new one. Like being a Grammie, it’s a new role, and I like to think it’s a good look for me. And as luck would have it, my husband agrees.
Living in the Gap 