Where's YOUR Easter Bonnet?

Ah yes, it's that time of year again. I was scanning the ads in today's Sunday paper and almost all of them featured adorable little girls in Easter hats. When I was an adorable little girl, my mother never let an Easter go by without my having an Easter hat. And I LOVED it! My only problem was that my mother insisted on cocking every hat she placed on my head to one side. She thought it was cute and "jaunty". I thought it was going to fall off at any minute! When I turned 4 or 5, she finally started letting me wear my Easter hat the way I wanted to...

Oops! Maybe not! This hat looks a little "cocked" to me, don't you think? I lovingly refer to this little number as my "upside down candy dish" hat. As you can see, I also had the matching coat and dress, along with the shoes (which you can't see here). Yes, I was quite the fashion plate as a child, and thank you for noticing!

As years went by, hats seemed to go the way of the late '50's/early 60's. At least they did as far as MY head was concerned. But I held a secret love for hats, and wished they would come back in style. When I was going to school, anyone who came in to class sporting jaunty head gear would have been laughed right back out again! Well, unless you had one of those cool, Twiggy kind of hats - Then you may have gotten away with it.

Hats are just cool things, you know? You can sometimes even tell where a person is from by the hat they're wearing! Well, not so much in this country anymore, but think about it....What country is known for this hat? France, yes! How about this? I would say Pakistan? Middle East? (New York cab driver?)

It would be nice if our country adopted hats again. I would suggest hat-wearing regions, since our country is so big. Let's see....what might I suggest ....????

This is my nomination for Region 1, which encompasses all of the northeast section of the U.S. (And I'm sorry, White Plains, New York and Vermont, that's what you get for living anywhere close to New York City. By the way, if you're from New York City, you have to hold onto the end of the feather ALL THE TIME, just like the model is doing....)

EVERYONE knows the young man modeling this stylish hat. He's cool, even if he WAS selling cigarettes and beer in this picture. And I think it goes without saying that this hat represents the Southeast Region of the U.S. SEE? People are already lining up to wear the official hat of their region!

Now I don't know if you can call the hurricane states a "region", but, they HAVE to have a hat. And here it is: WATCH OUT! CATEGORY 5 on woman's head! Film at 11!

The Southwestern Region includes (gulp) California! My nomination for this Region's hat is this stylish recycled number....For oh, so many reasons.... Again, SORRY to New Mexico and Arizona - YOUR penalty for living in the California region!

And now ladies and gentlemen, the Pacific and Inland Northwestern Region - Mostly a region of beautiful lush, green forests, and for good reason..... Here is the hat for the Northwest...

Yes, that's right...The RAIN hat, of course! Note the stylin' floppiness of the brim, allowing the pouring rain to run right off the hat and down onto your shoulders and chest. Oh so right when it's pouring rain with a wind chill of -10!

Finally, we have the Region of the GREAT WHITE NORTH, and by that, I mean ALASKA....

This is what I affectionately refer to as the Coyote Ugly Hat. Shot and designed by this state's governor, it's multi-functional and enjoyed equally by man and wife. Man's hat by day, lady's stole by night, and it's all fun and games until the thing gets wet...EWWWW! IS THAT A WET DOG I SMELL?? And you wonder why we stuck Alaska clear up where we stuck it!

We have several more worthy nominees, folks, but regrettably, we're out of time. I still say, however, that this is an idea that deserves more looking into.....