The Old Cowboy Hat

Ahhh! 

There it was, couldn’t believe it. 

Exactly what I was looking for.

It was love at first sight even though it wasn’t much to look at.

White….well… dirty white anyway.

The brim had wire in it so it was bendable.

Very well used.

I tried it on.

Perfect fit.

I had been looking for a hat for ages but couldn’t find one to fit.

You just can’t beat Value Village for a good bargain.

Cost me a whole 5 bucks.

My horse and I rode many long hours for many years on South Vancouver Island.

That old hat kept the sun off my face and the rain out of my eyes.

If I hunkered down it’d keep the wet branches in the woods from dripping down the back of my neck.

When we went for a gallop I’d just squash it down hard to the top of my ears and ride like the wind, that old hat would just stay stuck on my head like glue.

Well as time went by we decided to travel to Kamloops BC to a place called Jandana Ranch.

When I left…. I forgot my trusty hat!!

.

Although they said they’d get it back to me, a whole year went by.

I eventually gave up and bought a new hat.

Shortly after that I heard that Jandana had a really bad fire.  Apart from being concerned about their loss I was sure now that my old hat would be a goner.

I was wrong. 

A friend brought it back with him on one of his trips up to Kamloops.

It didn’t look too bad, just a bit smoky and a little more rumpled.

I had another hat now.  So I gave it to my friend Roma. It fit her head like a glove, just as it had mine.

Roma and her husband Wayne had occasion to visit Jandana for the first time one year.  As Roma got out of the truck, Janice, the owner approached her.

She was not looking at Roma but at the hat.

“Is that Deb’s hat”?

That old hat sure got around. They all had a good laugh. It was a great introduction.

Well Roma wore that old hat for years.  People looked at her a little funny cause it was pretty cockeyed looking.

But it still kept the sun out of her eyes and the rain off her face.

You would see her squash it down hard to the top of her ears and ride like the wind.

That old hat would just stick like glue.

Finally the day came when Roma felt she needed to retire the old hat. 

She just couldn’t bring herself to throw it away though, so it went into her tack room to await its fate.

One day she got an email from Deb asking her if she still had their old hat and if so could she bring it down next time she was in town?  Deb had a special place to display it. After all it was her first cowboy hat and she couldn’t see it on the garbage heap either.

The moral of the story is just because something is well used, old and maybe a little cockeyed doesn’t necessarily effect its usefulness or purpose. 

Life is about finding your true purpose, it doesn’t much matter how that appears to the rest of the world.

I sure love that OLD COWBOY HAT !!