Mon béret...

Mon béret...

Some years ago my dad gave me a nice wool beret for Christmas. In my hometown, the chapeau of choice is more often a baseball/golf/seed corn cap, and at first I felt a little self-conscious about wearing it. Actually sometimes I still do.

But after dad died in 2004 I decided to wear it boldly. I also decided that if anyone called me a sissy I'd punch his lights out. Not really.

This morning as I passed through the hardware store I heard that this has been the coldest January on record. That didn't surprise me (brrrr). What has surprised me is that my beret is arguably the warmest hat I own. I used to always wear a toque (Canadian stocking cap), but the beret is far warmer. I think it is because it creates a dead air space around the top of your head. Besides it doesn't paste your hair down to your head and then electrify it when you take it off.

The beret doesn't do a good job covering your ears (if you wear it right), but I found a nice pair of ear muffs.

So far nobody has called me a sissy. At least to my face.