When I was in Ecuador with Caedmon’s Call in 2004…
…brief aside: the online journal I wrote up for my trip to Ecuador with Caedmon’s got lost among the shuffle on the interwebs, but I plan on reposting those short entries here some point soon…
…anyway, when I was in Ecuador with CC in 2004 I had a great time. We saw lots of amazing things, and I came home with great stories and better friendships. I also came home with lots of random memories that will pop into my head now and again for no reason.
I thought of one of them yesterday when I got a package in the mail. The package was a gift from a friend in upstate NY. I had recently helped him out with a contest he was in, and in return he bought me a new Red Sox hat, which was mighty nice of him – Thanks Dan!
So last night I did what I always do with new baseball caps. I took a shower with it on.
I remember hanging out at one of the photo shoots in Ecuador and Cliff asked to see my hat (also a Red Sox hat). He checked out the curve on the brim, the perfect form on the crown, and remarked “this is a nice hat”. Coming from Cliff – a serial hat wearer – it was a nice compliment. But I already knew it was a nice hat, and I told him that. I take great pride in my baseball caps; I always have. Every new hat I’ve bought (or received) over the past 10 years has undergone the same indoctrination into my collection. Every hat gets worn in the shower, and then i keep a towel on my head for a good hour or so to help the crown form to my head while it dries. Another part of this tradition is that Erica looks at me and laughs at what an idiot I am.
Whether or not this actually does anything for the hat, I can’t say. But it’s a rite of passage for my hats, so I do it anyway. And so yesterday I welcomed a new cap into my life. A faded navy red sox fitted cap with a silver ‘B’ on the front and a silver sox logo on the back. A hat that, without question, would earn the approval of Mr. Cliff Young.
Thanks again for the hat Dan, it’s a keeper!