Well hello there gentle reader!
I apologize, it has been a while. That most certainly was not my intent. When I started this blog, I had a goal of writing a 1,000 words a day. Since the academic year began, I have little doubt I have been getting that many words in…but it certainly hasn’t been in this format. Rather, my daily e-mails have to add up to that magic number. It’s what we do, and by the time I’d get home, I’d find myself with other priorities. Sometimes it was the need to sleep, others to read…ehh, who am I kidding…it’s really been to watch the previous night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live. After all, what kind of life is one without priorities? And if the question is, share my thoughts or keep up with the antics of JK, Guillermo, Cleto, Cousin Sal and the gang…well, there are choices to be made. Not to mention, last week was JKL in Brooklyn, which included appearances by Misty Copeland, Marty McFly and Doc Brown, Paul Shaffer, and Howard Stern. How could blogging not take a back seat?
But yet, a voice in my head said, “Stop trying to escape it; you need to write.” When I was in high school, it had been a dream of mine to be a writer. This band directing thing is a relatively recent development, well after pitching for the New York Mets, train engineer, and late night talk show host…all relatively easy professions to break into, I’m sure. While I never became a writer, this blog provides an outlet to live that fantasy. But burying my writing urges in e-mail, web-surfing, Kimmel watching and others, I could not escape the call to Ninevah. I have no football game this weekend, Jennifer is working each night…I do think it is time to get “Guy in a Boater” back in action. So again…to any of you who have enjoyed this space, I’ll try not to stay away too long!
Of course, when I was last blogging, I was in a groove. I had all kinds of topics to write about. What began with the hat branched into Bond, bands, Kimmel and more. Perhaps it’s appropriate for this return, to get back to the roots. I started this escapade to chronicle the events of trying to wear a late 19th century/early 20th century hat. I also first donned the boater in summer, just Olaf and myself, a couple of boater buddies. Should you choose to read up on the boater on Wikipedia, you’ll discover that the boater is a formal summer hat. And throughout summer, and into Fall, the boater has been my look. It’s become synonymous with me; there is a rare moment that I am outdoors without a boater upon my head. I think it has only missed two marching band rehearsals this season. It’s been on my head at all UMass Band performances. Heck, I even held it in my hand, when I addressed the audience at the Multibands concert! From shopping at the Big Y to visiting the Big E, the boater has been my constant companion. “Guy in a boater” may be the name of this blog, but it’s really pretty much who I am at this point.
But that’s where I may be in for an identity crisis. Today is Oct. 30th. Thanks to high winds a couple nights ago, there’s not so much of the famed New England fall foliage on the trees anymore. Rather, those yellow, red and orange leaves rest easy upon the sidewalks and yard of Gray Street. I am told by local residents that this is “Deep Fall”. It’s definitely not winter (Thank God!), but we’re also past the charm of Autumn. I’m not a big weather guy; that’s fine by me. But here’s the problem….the boater is a summer hat, and that season is fast-fading memory. What should I do? I’ve been wearing it with a warm jacket I recently got from Men’s Wearhouse and I wonder…is that an unforgivable fashion faux pas? The summer topping for the head, matched with a cooler temperature outer wear? The boater is constructed of straw; its light material does not provide much head warmth, though when worn at a jaunt (which should be ALL THE TIME), it does provide fairly decent sun protection. And being of straw, the boater does not handle precipitation well. Two previous encounters with rain have caused me to take drastic measures to bring the boater back to its natural state. I could explain, but it’s quite advanced physics. Yeah, that’s it.
Of course, one could argue that boaster restoration hasn’t quite succeeded. The brim of the hat is bending upward, and I have to be careful not to pull the hat too far down upon my head. Otherwise a quite ungainly bump arises in the center, with the top of my head standing up above the rest. “Not at all attractive, to my way of thinking,” to borrow a sentiment of Mary Poppins. Now, being made of straw, I have felt from Day 1 that this was not to be my only boater. When I taught at Fresno State, I wore a Fresno State baseball cap constantly. Wore it to every rehearsal and every performance. In that land of constant sunshine, the red cap could easily fade, and so, before the first football game each year, it was time to replace the cap. That could be the way of the boater…a different boater for each year?
Well, that’s all fine and good…but let’s get to where we are now. The boater is a summer hat and it’s not summer. I guess this is the part where I engage you, the reader. Should I be looking at another hat? The boater provides no warmth, and the winter weather will make short work of its straw. But it’s more than just keeping the head from the chill. If I’m the “Guy in a Boater” and I’m wearing something else….well, am I just living a lie? This blog is “Guy in a Stocking Cap”, for crying out loud! F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said, “In America, there are no second acts.” Well, what about second hats?! He would know. After all, “The Great Gatsby” occurred during the hey-day of the boater. By the time the 1930s come along, that wonderful straw creation was becoming part of yesteryear. And so was Fitzgerald’s career. Coincidence?
But let’s just imagine for a minute, let’s just contemplate that maybe the ‘Guy in a Boater’ takes a seasonal hiatus from his nom de chapeau. What would be a suitable TEMPORARY alternative? If you’re already choosing to rock a hat that was popular at the same time as ragtime (shameless music!), you can’t just revert to a baseball cap. Or bundle your ears under beanie with drop in the thermometer. If the world is your oyster and the boater your summer accoutrement, then your winter millinery ware should be equally distinguished.
And that’s where you, the beloved reader, can play a part. Jennifer, my wonderful wife, has no doubt that its time to move on from the boater. Whether that’s permanent or seasonal, I’ll leave for you to wonder. But if the boater goes the way of the lawn mower in a New England winter, what should be the replacement? I’ve included a picture of maybe the most colorful British monarch around, Edward VII. Yes, I’m sure in the earlier years, there was no shortage of intriguing English royalty. Only this one didn’t execute people with impunity. Being the Heir Apparent under Victoria for so long meant Edward could lead quite the life…and my, did he do it in style! I don’t doubt he might have worn a boater. After all, Dick Van Dyke wears a boater during the chalk drawing sequence of “Mary Poppins,” the same film in which David Tomlinson proclaims, “It’s grand to be an Englishman in 1910, King Edward’s on the throne, it’s the age of men!” Anyway, the hat Edward is proudly wearing is a homburg. In olden days, monarchs could wear a dazzling crown. By Edward’s day, a spade bear, a tweed overcoat and a homburg upon your royal visage was fair grander. That’s my kind of royal duds! So, perhaps that might be worth exploring. No, I wouldn’t rename the blog “Guy who until recently wore a boater but now rocks a homburg”….but I wouldn’t be opposed to trying it.
So, I ask your opinion, readers that you might be. I’m not interested in the fedora…hipsters have ruined what Humphrey Bogart and Frank Sinatra made essential. And a bowler/derby just seems well….kind of foolish. But a homburg…I might entertain that discussion. But before we get any further, I haven’t yet decided to retire the boater (temporarily). Not only is that still on the table, it’s on my head! But should I do so…what next? Inquiring minds, covered in some form of a hat, want to know.
Boater to homburg, and if not…what then? I’ve written long enough; let me know what you think! Let’s get interactive here, people; the future of my head coverings depends on it!
guyinaboater 