The Hat

Well for those that know me well, I don’t usually wear the Stetson you see in the picture. My normal attire is a baseball cap that is in a state of disrepair or cleanliness or both and glasses. When working on the railroad my attire consisted of the above baseball hat and striped railroad coveralls. So it is a bit of fun with the Stetson going back to my youth on the farm/ranch where I was raised. The Stetson is my dad’s and was on top of his coffin before we buried him. So it means a great deal to me.

There is a saying in ol Montana that there are those that are all hat and no cows. Well that be me I guess. I rode horses when I was young and was raised on the prairie with cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs. The pasture land out east of our little 3 room former homestead shack was native grass which means it had never been plowed under. When I was young I found a buffalo horn in that old pasture. The past has a spell on me, a simpler time, slower and full of memories.

Ok back to the hat, I wore it for the first time about 2 summers ago when they were filming “Winter in the Blood” here on the hi-line of Montana. A local photographer Craig Edwards took my photo with another extra in the movie. I think my kids liked the picture so it kinda evolved from that. Still waiting for the movie to come out. Waitin, waitin, yes I know Christmas is coming. My mom always said till almost the day she died that “a person should try to learn something everyday.” I’ve been trying to all my life with some success some days and not so much on others. Good advice, Thanks ma.