I Put A Lid On It

I have scanned a gazillion pictures.  It’s a sea of images created on our computer organized in files for easy access.  Sometimes I browse through them for fun and sometimes I’m looking for a particular one I remember.

One day as I was looking for a photo, I noticed an odd recurrence in a file of pictures of my life. At almost regular intervals, I donned a different, always unique, hat of some sort.  Combining a love of pictures and a love of her children, and with an unending desire to capture the moment, my mother created a plentiful collection of images to choose from.  Displaying them is too much me for my comfort, but I found their recurrence so funny that I’m compelled to share – awkward years and all.

Likely the earliest photo of me with my head covered is this one:

But the adornment of my head was not limited to ears. Someone, somewhere, decided that head coverings were more attractive if balls of fluff were attached to them.  And so we entered an era of pompom ridiculousness.

   

Note that even the snowman is wearing a hat.

The pompom theme continued…

 

Someone must have thought “why stop at just balls of fluff, why not make hats with long lines of fluffy material?”  And so they did.

And I wore them.

   

And kept wearing them…

…

Pompoms and fluffy facial frames were only part of the story.

What holiday is complete without a costume?

Sometimes they were worn happily and sometimes, well, not so happily.

 

Later, I happily continued the tradition with favorite people.

 

  

  

My Mom not only liked holiday hats, she actually made some.

Don’t forget playtime.  We had such fun dressing up in my Aunt Freda’s former fashion statements in the summer.

 

And even when our heads needed more protection from the weather.

When we grow up, dress-up is called wearing costumes.

 

Yes, certain hats were made for summer.

     

And some for fall.

Winter weather sometimes found us in hoods.

In very cold weather, our moms dressed us in both hats and hoods.

Here, my cousin and I were likely trying to hear each other through our tightly wrapped ears.

At some point, fashion meant warm hats with excess brims.

Obviously, I inherited my fondness for interesting hats.

   

Of course, certain activities require special clothing topped with something to match.

 

Especially special activities/occasions.

 

 

 

Hats can be international.  While at a tourist attraction in Korea, a friend and I had some fun and felt what it was like to wear traditional clothing…including hats.

 

 

When in Mexico…..or in a Mexican restaurant…a birthday sombrero is fitting.

Whenever, wherever, hats top off any occasion.  They are both fun and functional.

Enjoy life – put a lid on it!

And when you do, take a picture!