A New Hat is Not Just a Hat.

July 26, 2017

I received a box via UPS today.  I had been expecting it.  But not this kind of wonderful box.  Inside was my new custom made for me, straw sun hat.  It was placed inside the box with such care I could imagine hands placing the foam form inside it to start the shaping process, wrapping it in plastic and then laying it in the hat form inside the box.  I could imagine the same hands placing the receipt and a personal note to me on top of the hat.  The box itself is gold embossed with “Jaxonbilt Hats” on the top.

 How can one purchase, one delivery, make me feel so special?  My hat was not expensive or fancy, but it was treated that way.

This new hat is a replacement for a hat I have worn on every adventure not requiring a helmet or ski cap.  A hat that has been through thousands of miles of rivers, (swimming with me through many of those miles), countless hikes in the mountains and hills, Girl Scout Camp and many lawn mowing experiences.  It keeps my head cooled on the playground at school, when my heart and mouth are sometimes hot.  It is a hat worn out by building memories.

This first hat was bought 7 years ago after a guided trip down the Middle Fork of the Salmon.  The guides on that trip had wonderful straw hats.  I had a wimpy something that allowed me to get very sunburned hat, if you call it that.  I asked about the guide hats and when we got to Salmon ID, I went in search of the hat maker.  What I found was a shop, a man and many hats.  Right before my eyes, I was part of  transforming of a blank straw hat form into my very own hat.  Baptizing it fully in water then caressing it onto my head.  "Wear it until it is dry, it will be yours till the end of its life.”  And it has been.

So, when I decided it was time for a new hat, I could have gone to any store for a cowboy hat.  I do live in Wyoming and cowboy hats are everywhere.  I tried.  NRS or Cascade Outfitters, Sylvan Peak, they all have great sun hats.  It was not the same.  They were just that generic hats.  I wanted something more.

My old hat, when I put it on, it filled me with memories, it hummed with excitement for more adventure.  It smells of rivers.  It is colored from the mud of the Green River, the San Juan River. My buffalo horn hatband combined with my sweat made it mold.  (nasty) Yeti rode down the Main Salmon with me last year, hanging on to the new and improved stampede strap.  It fits my head, and stays on even in the Laramie winds.  It loves me. I wanted a hat that I could be to this again with.

There was no choice.  The Salmon ID hat maker it had to be for a replacement.

 As time and distance are a real issue, I googled Hat Makers in Salmon, ID hoping for online ordering.  I got so much more.  I found somebody who wanted to talk to a real person.  Wanted to hear desires and needs.  I feel like in talking to this real voice on the other end of the phone call, I was able to long distance, blow life into the spirit of my new hat.

My old hat will hang in place of honor in my Happy Room. This room is filled with photos, memories, many taken while shaded by my hat.  My new hat is ready to make new memories.  It does need to be broken a bit.  I have a river trip in 2 weeks, that should do it! Or maybe like in the case of a newly built African Drum, I need to burn sage and let the smoke bless the life of my hat. Maybe both.

I am excited to see what the next seven years brings.