Maria and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Adirondack Wool and Fiber Festival today in Greenwich, N.Y. Each year I buy a winter wool hat and I almost gave up the search until I came across this very unusual hat with colored threads all along the top.

I can’t say why, but I loved it, and so did Maria. She bought it for me. Everyone around me urged me to buy it, so we did, and I think it will make people in my town either smile or chase me down the street. You never know.

I looked in a mirror at the stall, and I said to Maria, “I like it, but it does look a little strange.”

“We are strange,” she said. True enough.

The more I look at it, the more it grows on me. And I have to say, it is unusual, I think the sheep will especially love it. I imagine it will make its first appearance in November, unless it really gets cold.