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Greetings! I’m a writer, editor, and teacher, and I enjoy connecting with readers and other writers. From 2017 to 2021, I served as Alabama's Poet Laureate. I call this blog and website "A Map of the World" because I think that, as writers, we each map the world through our own lives and imaginations. Welcome to my particular map! To get in touch, you can email me at forjenhorne@gmail.com or find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/for.jen.horne where I post a Mid-Week Poetry Break every Wednesday.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Today's Big Question

First, I've just realized I write a lot about signs. I guess this is not surprising given that I am a compulsive reader.
On with the post, then. In answer to the question"Who doesn't love a camo hat[?]", found on a sign at a local restaurant that is, presumably, giving them away with a meal, I think we all know that my first response is likely to be of the smartass variety.
(In fact, I already own a knit camo cap that the dogs brought home. They bring a lot of things home, including a foam rifle case--though we don't have a rifle; a pair of tennis shoes in my size which I actually wear for yardwork; softballs, playground balls, rubber baseballs; gloves--generally not in pairs; dolls; various articles of clothing; and of course squirrel and bird carcasses and various deer parts. We have a don't ask, don't tell policy with the dogs on these things. I have no idea where they come from, the dogs or their gleanings.)
But back to the question. Considered more metaphysically, maybe a camo hat would be a nice thing to have every once in a while, when you're grubby but need to run by the grocery store, when you're present for something you'd rather not see or hear, when you don't wish to be the [fill-in-the-blank]-est person present.
Camouflage comes, not very interestingly, from the French word meaning "to disguise," but it gets better, because that word comes from a word meaning "puff of smoke" which comes in part from a word meaning "to muffle or cover up" (that's the -moufl- part of camouflage).
And a little muffling or covering up can be a good thing on occasion.
So who doesn't love a camo hat, after all? Not I.

1 comment:

  1. Jennifer, thank you for pointing this out! It is my current favorite sign in Tuscaloosa - and I've talked to a couple of people who also love it. Other questions (of the smartass variety) also come to mind...Would one wear one's camo hat with one's cloak of invisibility? I haven't seen a hat yet, but I wonder if these are specially made camo hats, to help one blend in when walking among giant cactus neon signs?
    Rachel

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