What Hat Are You Wearing Today 1?

[zetwal]

That beach is beautiful!

 

[hatophile]

Very dashing, J1, once again, I love your vintage tie. Looks like you have quite a collection. The VS is very sharp.

 

[danofarlington]

A silverbelly campdraft at surfers paradise, Queensland, australia.

[/QGoUOTE]

Good shape and color. Did you say you have a C crown crease on that? Generally I like center dent, but in the case of Campdraft with a high crown, I might try a C crown for once, if that's what you did with it.

 

[Blackthorn]

This pic goes back a ways, 1976 to be exact. Is of me and my daughter after her winning her first blue ribbon at the Big D Charity Horse show in the Bi-Centenial Lead-Line class. She rode my old Roan Tennessee Walking horse and as we all know, everybody in that class gets a blue ribbon Her mother made her costume for her and I'm wearing my first Panama I bought, a Wormser. Was a good hat as I recall, wore it for showing Saddle Horses for several years.

Great picture, Monbla. Your daughter was a cutie at that age.

 

[Blackthorn]

A silverbelly campdraft at surfers paradise, Queensland, australia.

Good looking lid, James.

 

[Joshbru3]

Great line-up today... love 'em all.

I wore my lighter than air Royal Stetson DeLuxe Vita-Felt.

Classic! Great photo and beautiful hat. That's one great looking thin ribbon. No wonder why Rusty liked it so much.

 

[hatophile]

Classic! Great photo and beautiful hat. That's one great looking thin ribbon. No wonder why Rusty liked it so much.

He looks deep in thought, too.

 

[alanfgag]

Thanks Josh. I think this is my earliest thin ribbon OR styled hat.

 

[Brando11]

Looks nice, Brando11.

Thank you Zetwal. I've redone the bash after my loving wife mentioned that I had a kind of Papa Smurf look going on there-

 

[bowlerman]

nice one-- I like that edge binding too. Is it a stamped OR?

today I'm "training" my new Eilerman's derby with that weird reeded nylon or something sweatband. I won't have to train it very much, and the smoke smell has almost completely dissipated:

 

[Jauntyone]

Very dashing, J1, once again, I love your vintage tie. Looks like you have quite a collection. The VS is very sharp.

Thank you sir!

 

[Lefty]

Beautiful images, Al and Alan. Wonderful outings, too.

+1. I don't fish, and I do my best not to stare at the sun, but you guys make it look enjoyable.

 

[alanfgag]

He looks deep in thought, too.

Pondering what to do with a truckload of Christmas cards addressed to Borders.

 

[T Rick]

Pondering what to do with a truckload of Christmas cards addressed to Borders.

Ouch. Hope you found a decent solution.

Love the hat BTW!

 

[wgiceman]

nice one-- I like that edge binding too. Is it a stamped OR?

today I'm "training" my new Eilerman's derby with that weird reeded nylon or something sweatband. I won't have to train it very much, and the smoke smell has almost completely dissipated:

That is one sharp looking bowler. Makes me want to get one myself.

 

[delectans]

Thanks, Jeff and Lefty!

 

[delectans]

Summer Sojourn, Part 2


Early morning on the ledge rock shore by our lodge.


Ruby Throated Hummingbird.



The Cascade Lodge. On this trip we decided to stay at a few historic lodges on the North Shore, for nostalgia's sake. The Cascade Lodge is owned and run by a lovely family.



We always hike a portion of the Superior Hiking Trail when we are up on the North Shore. It is justifiably considered one of America's ten greatest trails.


Wildflowers abound in July on the North Shore.



Orange Hawkweed in a clearing on the trail.



Moss covered Chicken Of The Woods mushrooms. July is a great time to find wild mushrooms, especially along the Superior Hiking Trail.



Not exactly certain just what I am doing here. Wild Lupine in another clearing on the trail.



Seeds from these Wild Lupine can be succesfully planted in home gardens.



Collecting seeds and specimens for our herbarium.

 

[delectans]

A fairly difficult section of the SHT.



The short spur trail to White Sky Rock is quite challenging, with several hundred feet of arduous climbing in 0.3 miles.



The trail is shaded under a canopy of mature maples and aspens.



A magnificent vista of Caribou Lake and the Superior National Forest rewarded us at the end of the climb.



Despite temperatures in the upper 60s we were drenched in sweat from the exertion.



Caribou Lake as seen from White Sky Rock, elevation 1530 ft.. Eagle Mountain, Minnesota's highest peak at 2300 ft., lies to the northeast a short distance, in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.



Surveying the landscape while my shirt dried. No problems at all with my hat even with all the perspiration.



Caribou Lake is pristine and relatively weed-free, with a rocky bottom near shore, a haven for Smallmouth Bass. Ryan caught and released a nice 'Smallie' in the short time we spent there.



The Beaver House in Grand Marais, a fixture on the North Shore for over 40 years, catering to anglers heading up the legendary Gunflint Trail.



Trophy walleye. Note fedora in the background as part of the display.

 

[delectans]

The Walleye is prized for its table qualities, and is the Minnesota state fish.



Not our usual fly rod catch-and-release quarry, the Walleye. There are few fish better tasting, and we enjoyed fresh Walleye nearly every meal.



The Naniboujou Lodge, one of the jewels of the Lake Superior North Shore. It was originally an exclusive, private club, The Naniboujou Club.



The great room of the original club house, now the dining room, features amazingly well preserved wall and ceiling painting and decoration by the French artist Antoine Goufee.



The designs created by Goufee are strangely psychedelic, inspired by traditional Cree designs.



Standing in front of the largest stone fireplace in Minnesota to provide perspective. It was created by a local stonemason of Swedish decent named Carlson, using 200 tons of native rocks, and stands nearly twenty feet high.



The strikingly bold and vivid designs are bathed in wonderful, natural light.



We have always felt an affinity for Naniboujou, which at once evokes a sense of wistful reminiscence and eerie sadness.



Sitting in the great room and staring at the mesmerizing decoration, one can almost hear the jovial banter of the original club members nearly ninety years ago. Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey were among some of the well known members of the Naniboujou Club.



View looking northeast along the shore, towards Grand Portage and the Canadian border, less than thirty miles distant.

 

[delectans]

The passing clouds made for variable and intriguing light for my photos.



The Great Depression led to the demise of the Naniboujou Club in 1935 after only six short years.



Savoring every moment at water's edge.



Rock picking along the shore, one of our favorite pastimes. Thomsonite in its basalt matrix, or host rock, as found 'in situ' at our favorite, secret location on the North Shore.



The same specimen removed from the frigid waters of Lake Superior. The water temperature of 'Gitchi Gumi' is a nearly constant 40F year round. A rare mineral belonging to the Zeolite group, Thomsonite is found in only a few locations worldwide.



One of the best specimens I have found in many years.



Pointing out a beautiful Thomsonite 'amygdule'. A desirable, semi-precious stone, Thomsonite is nearly always found embedded within a basalt matrix. It takes tremendous patience and careful work to free them from the host rock, for those who enjoy lapidary. Specimens with high-contrast green and pink colors and radiating patterns with 'eyes', are considered the most desirable. I prefer to keep the specimens in their natural state, in matrix, but Lydia prefers to simply buy the extraordinarily beautiful finished jewelry made by local artists.



Reflecting on the natural beauty that surrounded us.



Lake Superior under moonlight.