One of my favorite writing quotes is "There is no temptation in the world harder to resist than editing someone else's copy." When I reread what I wrote, my internal editor went back to work. So, you did not miss any lines. I just couldn't stop fussing. That was a v2.0. That was a changed line. The quote, by the way, is from Edmund Blatherskite.
He wouldn't let you see it on his face, but he wouldn't interrupt you either. Maybe shake his head and break eye contact. 😀 He'd definitely let you see the hat.
I don’t like the name. As I walk down The Scores from my hotel I pass the 18th green on the Old Course. I stopped in the Tom Morris Golf Shop. I had already bought a duffel full of Old Course swag with the understanding it is unlikely I will pass this way again.
One day, terribly sooner than I’d like, I’ll forget walking across the Swilcan Bridge with my son, as we finished the golf round of a lifetime. The pictures of that trip on my wall will help.
But today I’m looking for THE hat. One that says St Andrews and a great trip and a better friends and a better son than I deserve. My wife says I don’t look good in hats. As always she is correct in her assessment, making any investment that much more challenging.
The label says Nubbie. The other says Newsboy Flat Cap. I played baseball and then softball for decades. Those days are long gone as is my desire to wear such a ball cap. So, while I don’t like the name, nubbie or flat cap will be it. The first hats are all a bit tight. It had been said, more than a few times, that I have a big head. I always took it to mean I was a bit too full of myself. But maybe they weren’t being so ill impolite.
And then. There it was. I shan’t describe it, as your opinion matters not a bit. It is now a part of me. I don’t care for bills or the bills of caps. I no longer have to shade my eyes from fly balls. So the hat, no nubbie or flat cap for me, just the hat, will be worn backwards. No golfers forehead tan (not) for me.
The clerk asks if I want it wrapped. Not this hat. I’ll wear it out the store, down the street and past the Road Hole to the Jigger Inn, where well down a pint or two. While cheering a good shot by the golfers as they pass by. The resumption of a lifetime of memories.
“This is the cottage where I lived alone on mussels and mead” this I can imagine, wearing a hat, even a beret, less so, me and hats always part company on a bad note….
Also, smiling, I loved “If I liked you, and I wouldn’t, I would show you the soft, worn fabric inside my hat.” Reminds me of a wild always scowling man on a different Irish hill… I hear he’s still there too…
much as i admire hats on others...and the red beret will surely look magnificent on O'meara, they always turn me into a buffoon, like I've been cursed for a joke by a drunken hobgoblin.
Gah! Loved this answer in speedy boarding. And really glad you repeated it. I caught a few lines I somehow missed amid all the great stuff there.
“If I liked you, and I wouldn’t, I would show you the soft, worn fabric inside my hat.”
No blatherskite here! Pure unadulterated just-the-way-it-is-idness.
One of my favorite writing quotes is "There is no temptation in the world harder to resist than editing someone else's copy." When I reread what I wrote, my internal editor went back to work. So, you did not miss any lines. I just couldn't stop fussing. That was a v2.0. That was a changed line. The quote, by the way, is from Edmund Blatherskite.
He wouldn’t want me to love him (and gush about it) but I would anyway.
He wouldn't let you see it on his face, but he wouldn't interrupt you either. Maybe shake his head and break eye contact. 😀 He'd definitely let you see the hat.
And I’d like to be the bar maid serving him his beer. Just to see that hat
😀 . He would spend just a tad too long ordering from you and you'd catch him out in the best way.
I don’t like the name. As I walk down The Scores from my hotel I pass the 18th green on the Old Course. I stopped in the Tom Morris Golf Shop. I had already bought a duffel full of Old Course swag with the understanding it is unlikely I will pass this way again.
One day, terribly sooner than I’d like, I’ll forget walking across the Swilcan Bridge with my son, as we finished the golf round of a lifetime. The pictures of that trip on my wall will help.
But today I’m looking for THE hat. One that says St Andrews and a great trip and a better friends and a better son than I deserve. My wife says I don’t look good in hats. As always she is correct in her assessment, making any investment that much more challenging.
The label says Nubbie. The other says Newsboy Flat Cap. I played baseball and then softball for decades. Those days are long gone as is my desire to wear such a ball cap. So, while I don’t like the name, nubbie or flat cap will be it. The first hats are all a bit tight. It had been said, more than a few times, that I have a big head. I always took it to mean I was a bit too full of myself. But maybe they weren’t being so ill impolite.
And then. There it was. I shan’t describe it, as your opinion matters not a bit. It is now a part of me. I don’t care for bills or the bills of caps. I no longer have to shade my eyes from fly balls. So the hat, no nubbie or flat cap for me, just the hat, will be worn backwards. No golfers forehead tan (not) for me.
The clerk asks if I want it wrapped. Not this hat. I’ll wear it out the store, down the street and past the Road Hole to the Jigger Inn, where well down a pint or two. While cheering a good shot by the golfers as they pass by. The resumption of a lifetime of memories.
Everyone should have such a hat.
Anybody who can wear a hat backwards and get away with it has got something special.
Cheers! 🍻
Fabulous! The tempo, the humor, the intent, the theater, the whole gestalt!
Thanks, Tommy.
Waiting to be a bald-deserver of any hat. Great stuff, thank you.
The most exciting part of wearing a hat for me these days is the chance to pretend I'm not bald for a minute when people first meet me.
“This is the cottage where I lived alone on mussels and mead” this I can imagine, wearing a hat, even a beret, less so, me and hats always part company on a bad note….
Also, smiling, I loved “If I liked you, and I wouldn’t, I would show you the soft, worn fabric inside my hat.” Reminds me of a wild always scowling man on a different Irish hill… I hear he’s still there too…
For some reason my Ireland Emoji is working so image in it here --> [ ]
A bad scowling man is no good at all, but a good scowling man is the best kind.
What a lovely idea to have the hat that helps you take on a persona...a perfect answer from a fiction writer!
This was my favorite of the answers and that’s am saying a lot.
Me too. Gimme the hat!
🐅
The BEST. This story strikes a chord and a post doesn't do any burly man justice.
I love it!!
Thanks! He was just one of those guys we all know. The solid guy.
much as i admire hats on others...and the red beret will surely look magnificent on O'meara, they always turn me into a buffoon, like I've been cursed for a joke by a drunken hobgoblin.
Tell me about it, Nick. There are Hat People and there are Don't Wear a Hat People. it sounds like we are on the same team.
Oh fantastic! I want that hat too!
Here's what I have at the moment:
🔴 🐅 🖼️
I'm still smiling from this one...thanks!
😃