Some days, I am absolutely overwhelmed when I walk into my closet (ok, most days). How did I accumulate so much stuff? I have my teaching wardrobe and my non-teaching wardrobe, my workout wardrobe and my collection of jeans. (If I was writing about the best $150 I ever spent, we would talk jeans, but we're starting small here.) About once a year, I randomly scour through all of my stuff and give 3/4 of it away. Purging is good. But there is one thing that I would never purge. My blue Nike hat.
Like many of my closet acquisitions, I randomly bought the blue Nike hat on a whim because (1) it was on sale, and (2) I was having a bad hair day (this was back when I cared what my hair looked like, so I think it was around 1995 or so). As I wore the hat out of the store, I noticed that it didn't need any adjustment and that the overall fit was perfect.
That hat became my constant companion. When I went to college the next year and couldn't be bothered with showering before class, my blue hat accompanied me along to philosophy and meterology lessons. When I went to the gym, my trusty blue hat went with me there as well. I have more pictures of me in college wearing that hat than not. (If any of you know the Irishman, he could be writing this post, except his hat loyalty changes on a biannual basis).
As I started packing for trips to Greece, Paris and the Grand Canyon, my Nike hat was at the top of my list in between deoderant and toothpaste. Fast forward about a decade and my Nike hat made the trip to the hospital with me when Parker was born. In other words, it's been on every single trip with me for the last 13 years and I've somehow managed to not lose it or stain it.
As I continue to put that hat on week after week, I can't help but think of the miles it's traveled and the trips that it's made and that every once and a while, among all of our wasteful spending on junky things, we happen to strike gold.
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