Unmasked.

For the last 14 months, the place where I often work has had a mask mandate for employees. Customers were encouraged to wear a mask, but not refused service or scolded if they didn't. Two months ago, Cabela's followed Texas Gov. Abbott's directive to unmask (for customers). Employees remained masked.

The company decided to lift the employee mask mandate last weekend. Free at last!

By the way, our store has remained open all through the pandemic (essential services: guns and ammo). We are an approximately 250,000 sq. ft. retail operation employing about 200 people, ranging in age from 18 to 88. We had two employees contract the Wuhan Flu (CV19), both of whom were exposed outside of the store and returned to work within a couple of weeks.

The hat is a completely unstructured cotton cap with a mesh back.  It boasts Cabela's founding date (but not the date of its 2017 demise as an independent company). The colors (mustard and navy) remind me of the Cub Scout hat I had as a child.

Sunrise at Hat Creek

Pop Kraut.

 

It's snowing again. I tried to go into work, but couldn't make it out of my driveway (bit of an uphill slope). I dressed in my Deutsche-best for winter wear. The coat is German Gore-Tex winter parka with good insulation, a full fleece liner, and reflective stripes and buttons. Very warm. Very dry. Very surplus. It says "POLIZEI" on the back, in tall reflective letters.

The hat is an inexpensive Tyrolean Hat, made in Bavaria. It's a good place to store Volksmarching pins.

Still not a Kap.

This is not a 'Kap'.




The Treachery of Images (French: La Trahison des images [la tʁaizɔ̃ dez imaʒ], 1928–29, sometimes translated as The Treason of Images) also known as This Is Not a Pipe^[2] and The Wind and the Song,^[3] is a painting by the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte.

Roll red tide.

Comfy. Warm. Wool felt. Made in the USA for L.L. Bean. Red... and it rolls up to stuff into a coat pocket.

What's not to love?

Something to get excited about.

I picked up this hat at Fort Griffin Texas Historic Site out by Albany. The hat features the new logo of the Texas Historical Commission. I'm excited.

To drive the cold winter away.

I like stuff from Orvis™. I have for a long time. Orvis is sort of like L.L. Bean for the landed gentry. But like many other old brand names, even one's still owned by the family (like Orvis and James Avery), the old ways are dying, and the new way is to chase the Millennial shopper. It's understandable, but regrettable. Quality suffers. Corners are cut. Designs and products change for 'the look' as opposed to 'the work'. Function now follows form. I understand the necessity, I just lament what is lost.

This 80% polyester/20% wool ball cap is mostly about form instead of function, but it still functions well on cold and wet days. My bald head stays warm and dry, and I like the brick color (it's a little 'brickier' colored in real life). The Orvis logo emblazoned on the front like an ancient Hebrew's phylactery is tastefully understated.

I drove 2500 miles, and all I got was this lousy cap. And a tote bag. And a bunch of memories.

"Ceci n'est pas une Kap."

This is not a 'Kap'.


The Treachery of Images (French: La Trahison des images [la tʁaizɔ̃ dez imaʒ], 1928–29, sometimes translated as The Treason of Images) also known as This Is Not a Pipe^[2] and The Wind and the Song,^[3] is a painting by the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte.

Transmitting manually.

100% synthetic material, stretchy and wicking. A kind gift from a friend, and a warning to potential car thieves.

Tenacious B.

Fluorescent orange, reflective stripes, four LED lights (two low-beam, two high-beam).

Think anyone will notice?

High yellow.

OTTO brand unstructured cotton ball cap, picked up at Big Bend National Park. It's a fav.

Short-Stack for breakfast.

Honey man-bun.

No commentary.

Drugstore Cowboy.

Another unstructured cotton cap acquired on my recent circumnavigation of Texas. This hat was a gift from a new-found friend. She purchased it at the Ft. Davis Drug Store in Fort Davis, Texas.

It's comfy, sits on my head well, and is highly prized. Thanks, Gretchen!

Howdy, Tex!

On my recent 8-day, 2600 mile Lap of Texas, I acquired four new hats. I'll be posting them here in chronological order.

This was my first acquisition. It a simple cotton ballcap, sold as a fund-raiser for the Save Tex Randall campaign in Canyon, Texas. Unstructured. I got it at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum (along with a parking ticket) at West Texas A&M.



I'll be going back to see Tex again... and to PPHM or WTAM (but I'll park more carefully).

Get stuffed.

Cotton 'driving cap' from MINI USA Motoring Accessories. Unstructured, one-size fits all, elastic back, embroidered MINI logo.

I leave it in my car as an emergency cap, but I can also stuff it into my jacket pocket (or back pocket, or camera bag pocket). Not much else to say. Not much eye protection from the sun, but good scalp protection from the sunroof and cool air.

Cool air: coming soon to a sub-tropical region near me.

TR Negative.

Another Terlingua cap, specifically a Terlingua Racing Team cap.  Gold on black instead of the traditional black on gold.

I needed another cap.

Old soldiers never die. They fade into yard hats.

This is a hybrid hat. The leather band with pheasant feathers came off a 'lawn-deceased' Stetson straw I had many years ago (purchased at the flagship Neiman-Marcus store in downtown Dallas in the early 1990s). This hat came from REI. It's made of 'Toyo Straw', which isn't straw at all, but rolled paper.

I usually wear it backwards, so the torn brim is to the back. I'm cool that way.

All hat, no cattle.

A Stetson 10X 'Rancher' straw with side vents. Like me, it was made in Texas by Texans.