Strawberry Shortcake

Funny, what images grab us. This little hat has been on our deck post, like this, for several months.

It started the day after Halloween. This sweet little Strawberry Shortcake (I think) hat was laying on the post that holds our mailbox and our next door neighbor's mailbox. I'm guessing that our neighbor must have laid it there after finding it someplace near their house. I remember thinking, "aww, some little trick or treater lost their hat last night" and I hoped that it would be found by its owner.

The hat continued to lay on the mailbox post for a couple of days, but, as will happen in early November, brisk north winds moved in and swooped it up and the little hat came to lay in our front yard. I was still hopeful that the lost would be found, so I took it back to the mailbox post and, instead of just laying it there, I placed it atop the post so that it looked like it was wearing le petit chapeau.

For weeks it stayed there and hope lessened that it would ever make it back home. But it was fun having it out there and we often talked about driving up to the house and there it would be, that welcoming beacon. It made us smile or giggle when we saw it. We even thought it would be a great addition to our directions when we invited people over for the holidays--just look for the mailbox post wearing a Strawberry Shortcake hat! And the red and green colors were perfectly festive!

However, with the holiday season, also came packages...and one day the postal carrier placed one between the mailbox and the post and off came the hat. OK, I thought, maybe this has played itself out and I brought the day's mail and the hat inside and, well, now what? I can't explain it, but I took that little hat out the back door and dressed the deck post.

Same hat, but new location and suddenly it brought new joy when we looked outside to the back yard. Sunny days, rainy days, windy, gloomy days--all gave it a different look. The best, though, were the snowy days. All of that white with just a dot of bright red and green--wish I'd thought to photograph it then. Sleet and hail, too, it's been through a lot. Except the blazing hot temperatures of summer. Will it still be on our post then? Hard to say.

Are we silly---crazy? Maybe. But, whatever form it takes, fun is...fun!

Marilyn