A Happy Man!
It didn't take long to notice the scores of women wearing hats.
Of the several hundred visitors from several states and four countries most came because they are partial to hydrangeas. Others came to tour private gardens seen in magazines. All celebrated hydrangeas because they deserve it.
The official count is not available at this writing but we gave out of tickets.
Most of the ladies wore hats; “utility hats.”
It was a perfect day for the “14th Annual Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival.” Temperatures were moderate but there was the sun and most of the activities were outside.
If you are one who plans ahead, the festival is held in Douglasville, GA, on the first weekend of June. It is one of the functions of the Douglas County Tourism and History Commission, a group that has been promoting and creating reasons for visitors to come to Douglas County for a quarter century.
Most stopped by the Douglas County Museum of History and Art to see the miniature gardens, garden show, and visit the expansive and recognized collections of the museum.
There were more ladies in hats this year.
Perhaps the gals were nudged by the recent “hoss” races, in which all the ladies wear hats, or the sea of women in hats for the Platinum Jubilee of HRH Elizabeth II in London.
The Englishwomen like colorful hats. I stared at the television and wondered how on earth some of the gals didn't see themselves coming and going.
Who kept up with who wore what color, what style of hat. Some, the most interesting, didn't sit on top their heads but at an angle and they were not all round. Some were shaped like a ship's sail or the front end of said ship. A women's hat doesn't have to have a purpose beyond pure decoration. Whatever the reason I was glad because I love to watch a woman gliding through the room in a hat: The bigger the better.
I grew up when all women wore hats on Sunday or when they were dressed up. My mother wore hats but not the large sun hat we saw on television. She had one or two of those but they were not convenient for boarding or disembarking from a small car.
Air conditioning came in the form of windows rolled down so it is understandable why a lady would not want to wear a kite on her head with a constant breeze blowing through the windows.
My mother was not a tall woman,
By Joe Phillips Dear Me continued from page
barely over five feet tall and a wide-brimmed hat made her look like a mushroom.
I do recall her wearing a large straw hat at a family funeral including the obligatory trip to the cemetery.
She preferred small decorative hats and I still have one as an artifact of sweet memories.
Ah, yes!
joenphillips@yahoo.com
