For Christmas this year my parents gave both my nephew and my great nephew bomber hats. They, of course, both looked adorable in their cozy headwear. But my nephew decided that he would prefer a hat one size larger. This is how my folks happened to have an extraneous hat lying around the house. Being prone to silliness, I put the hat on one night and attempted a little comedy. My parents took one look at me and insisted that I needed a bomber hat of my very own. I declined the offer.
The weather in New York this week made me long for the balmy days in Prague. As I seriously contemplated frostbite, I thought longingly of that hat. I emailed my dad and two days later the hat arrived on my doorstep. As fate would have it, the weather had warmed considerably by then. But I am all-too certain that it will cool again before spring arrives.
I tried on the hat and it was even cuter than I remembered. I began to wonder how I would clean such an item and looked for a tag. Sure enough there was one inside the hat: “Dry Clean by Furrier.” Ruh roh. That oh-so-soft-and -warm trim on my new hat? That would be rabbit. For a split second I considered sending it back. But then I tried it back on. And I remembered how cold it can be at the bus stop in the morning. And it’s not like returning the hat would bring the poor little bunny back to life. I may as well take advantage of his sacrifice. Now if that cold weather would just come back . . .
