The Magic Hat

I lost my hat.
The magic hat.
It's been in almost every picture I've taken of myself on this European trip, as well as in all my videos.
I loved that hat.
I'm thinking of writing a eulogy for it. I either left it or dropped it somewhere around the train station in Marseilles while looking for the bus depot to take me to Aix-en-Provence. I had it. Walked 3 blocks to find the bus and when I there, it was gone. Vanished. And I was too tired to walk back up the hill. I had gone too far and would've had too many places to look. I had to let it go.

That hat could take any ensemble I came up with and make it look good, no matter how silly or questionable my hygeine i was. It was perfect for bad hair days...or when I just didn't want to deal with it. And being that I'm currently on a 10 day trip with only a tiny backpack (didn't want to bring the orange dufflebeast), it was the last shred of vanity I was clinging to. All bets are off now. I'm in hotels, so my skin is clean, but that's about all I can vouch for at this point.

I had to make some tough choices packing this bag. The razor didn't make it. Too heavy. And after 6 threatening emails from Ryanair about the weight limit for my carry on, I wasn't going to risk it. Couldn't I have made a different sacrifice? Perhaps. But 2 pair of pants wasn't going to cut it, and I had to bring all my work stuff.

I'm in Aix-en-Provence right now. Not exactly the fashion capitol of the world, but definitely a shoppers' delight. Unfortunately the only hats I've seen so far would either require me to also purchase a skateboard to have it look right, or I'd have to change my name to Pierre. "The Magic Hat" I loved so much was from Old Navy. Four dollars on the clearance rack, so you never know. I might get lucky. I have a small head though and hats aren't easy for me to find.

It's so hot and dry here, that my dried straw afro hair is right out there for us all to enjoy now. Me and anyone who happens to walk by and look in my general direction.

So the pros and cons of this moment?
Cons
I'm hatless and have bozo the clown hair.
I'm exhausted from not being able to sleep last night. The brain couldn't unplug. I got up at 5:30 for the obligatory urination and never made it back to the promiseland.
Pros
It's Saturday.
It's beautiful here.
It was time for a new look for me anyway.