The Day Andy Lost His Soul BUTT END
BY KEVIN CALLAN CANOEING HATS ARE AS PRECIOUS AS THEY ARE UGLY
I DIDN’T GIVE IT MUCH THOUGHT when my paddling bud- dy handed over his sleeping pad, rain jacket and canoe pack to his nephew. After all, we had finished our trip—27 days in Quetico—and his nephew was just beginning his—a summer working as a canoe guide for the Scouts’ Northern Tier Camp. But when Andy handed over his canoe hat, a weathered, wide- brimmed cacophony of colour, complete with a sweat-stained rim and a dozen or so mosquitoes squashed on the cap, I sput- tered. Giving away simple camp gear is one thing…but lending a canoe hat…that’s handing over your soul! A good canoe hat does much more than protect your bald
spot from ultraviolet rays or hide bad hair. It displays your char- acter and advertises your true self to anyone passing by, an- nouncing that you’re a rugged individual. Andy is no canoeing fashion monger snob, but he knows a
good hat when he sees it. His lid wasn’t a true “tested through the intestines of an elephant” Tilley Endurable, but it made up for its lack of pedigree with character. It rested on his head as comfortably as a sleeping cat. Its brim reached out just far enough to keep the strongest rays of the sun off his nose but no more and the colour scheme (and scheme is the only word for it) was unreproducible in nature.
Andy’s hat rested on his head as comfor tably as a sleeping cat .
Maybe I take hats more seriously than Andy, but I ques-
tioned him all the way home about why he would hand over the bonnet that safeguarded his scalp through countless late afternoons in the canoe. My protests had an effect, though, because a week later he phoned up the camp to ask his neph- ew for the hat back. That’s when bad went to worse. The nephew had lost track
of it after lending it to a young Scout who was suffering from heat stroke. No one seemed to know where it was. Andy was accepting. I wasn’t. I contacted the camp director
and demanded they look for poor Andy’s lost soul, I mean hat. Throughout the summer a massive search went on, unknown to Andy, and it wasn’t until the last week of the season that the hat was located, stuffed into the back corner of a bush plane. The nephew shipped it to Andy immediately, along with a sheepish apology for being so careless. So, what did Andy do? He decided to torment the boy. He
replied that it wasn’t his hat. I’m sure he chuckled to himself, but he forgot to tell his
nephew the punchline. Andy had some explaining to do last Christmas when he unwrapped a new Tilley from his nephew. But what are family members for if not forgiving and forget-
A GOOD HAT CAN STOP SUN AND RAIN,
AND STEAL ATTENTION FROM YOUR SOCKS. PHOTO: RICK MATTHEWS
42 n C ANOE ROOT S summer 2007
ting? Andy’s nephew recently decided to work in the north again this season. Being the good uncle Andy is, he mailed off some gear for him to borrow—including his new Tilley, with his nephew’s name embroidered inside.
KEVIN CALLAN never has to hide a bad hairdo.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60