Fear in Writing: I am the Hat Lady

Today in Literary History

Today in Literary History...December 14, 1907: Rudyard Kipling receives the Nobel prize for literature, the first English-language writer to do so.ud

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

I am the Hat Lady

Smoky voice, stringy hair too capped in grease to show the world. Eyes puffed and sagging. Mouth parted just enough to allow in air my stuffy nose won't let pass.

So I do what I have never done before: I borrow my husband's baseball cap.

Let me go back a bit by saying I was born in the south. No, The South. Mascara and Lipstick are my best friends. I was taught to never leave the house without makeup, never travel without a hairdryer (we don't trust those hotel things). I was raised to shop, shop, shop and started going to salons at a very young age.

But today...when the gremlins (i.e. children) are fighting to stay in their p.j.'s even though it's five minutes till go time for preschool (and I'm tempted to let them leave in footed monkeys and monster-themed button-ups)...and I've been up since I don't know when and the coffee isn't doing it's job...

I put on The Hat. I do put on lipstick and a little cover-up. I switch from running pants to jeans.

And we make it to school on time.

Now is that so bad?

10 comments:

  1. You had lipstick and jeans in your wardrobe, where could you go wrong? Not bad at all, from one Southern girl to another.

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  2. Thank you, Mason. Glad to meet someone who understands. In high school we were barely allowed to wear jeans! Dress up or don't go out at all!

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  3. Not exactly the type hat you are refering to, but one of the things I love about being southern is that we can still were hats without people looking at us like we are odd or should be headed to church. Of course the church hats are a whole different thing. So even if it's a hastilly grabbed ball cap, I say embrace the hat. (I have aleast a dozen- mostly tams and fedoras)

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  4. Oh you made me think of a great pic of my daughter! I'll post it now!

    Michele

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  5. Are you saying that you don't have a big southern female straw hat with silk ribbons like the ones noblewomen wear at horse races??? :))

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  6. Oh look at the latest post...That is actually my sister's hat, but I DO have a big one as well. I couldn't compete at Ascot or Derby, but I would fit in! (but not today, greasy hair, husband's ball cap - seriously - this conversation has become highly elevated!)

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  7. This dressing up everyday sounds lovely and exotic to me, but I could never manage. I grew up a tomboy in the west (with barb wire,goats, cows, all of it) and jeans are my native garb :)

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  8. I think pregnancy did me in. I have discovered running pants and zip-up jackets that cover things nicely. But I still hold tight to my makeup!
    The baseball cap is a new low...

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  9. Have you read this book, Michele?: "Suck Your Stomach In and Put Some Color On!: What Southern Mamas Tell Their Daughters that the Rest of Y'all Should Know Too." It's TOO funny! I was always a complete failure in this department...never really cared what I looked like.

    Elizabeth
    Mystery Writing is Murder

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  10. Oh, Elizabeth! Just in time for Christmas! I know what all the girls in my family are getting! Thank you.

    I'm not a true diva (hope hubby isn't reading), just Southern born and bred - and I don't even have an accent!

    Michele

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