1. Under My Hat refers to what's going on in my head at any particular time. Since my brain is inside my head, and my head is Under My Hat, it seemed a natural title.
2. Keeping something under your hat means to keep a secret, kind of implies this stuff is just between me and you. Since there are currently two people following the blog, the secret is well kept.
3. Under My Hat references one of my for-better-or-for-worse trademarks. I love hats. Real hats. Sure, I'll slap on a ball cap from time to time when convenience or the situation calls for it. But take note of the term "ball CAP"-- it says right there it's a cap and not a proper hat.
I don't feel properly dressed without a hat. Yeah, it's old fashioned, but that's not a bad thing. People at work know I'm in the building because they see The Hat sitting above my desk. I always know where my keys are, because they are in My Hat.
My main Hat is brown, well-travelled, dusty, and a bit beat up. It is my unashamedly disreputable hat--it gets crushed into carryon bags, covers my head in the rain and wind and dust and hail and NERF darts and snow and falling rocks and whatever else the world has thrown at us. Because that's what a Hat is for.
I respect what this lid does for me, and, as such, even capitalize it--it is The Hat.
The Hat is an Akubra Federation fedora. Made out of real critter fur, by Australians who know a thing or two about making long-lasting, durable, and good-looking hats. They've only been up to it for about 100 years, after all.
Yes, it is an Indiana Jones hat--but a good one. It's NOT like some of the licensed ones, with the wrong materials, the wrong structure, the wrong lining, the wrong brim, the wrong, well... everything. Akubra made this one with the classic 30s styling, broad brim, quality critter fur materials under it, and it came with a high, open-crown, meaning it could be bashed into whatever shape works for my head. Sure, it's a good Indy hat at its core, but its first-and-foremost My Hat.
What something looks like, or reminds you of, is an aspect of that thing. Since perception is reality, the connotations of The Hat are part of what it is. You may look at My Hat and think "Indiana Jones!" or of those great movies you saw as a kid, or connotations of adventure, or sneers of "fan boy!" It's all good.
In a world of generic fashion, of hipster uniforms, of ubiquitous jeans-and-t-shirts, and the fashion-of-the-month, I enjoy wearing items with a long personal history, and typically immediate recognition. It may be a kilt, or a pair of boots an extra wore filming "Saving Private Ryan," or The Hat. Something you see and know "there's a story behind that."
Yes, with me, there's a story behind EVERYTHING.
Hehe - we must be kindered spirits, same H.S. and both like hats! Sometimes I get selfconscience of my hat, because rarely do people wear them. I cannot understand why. Nothing protects like a big brimmed hat!!
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