About a Hat

or how sometimes poody, really is...

(/cosby)I want to talk to YOU about a hat.(/cosby off)

Pictured at the left is Adam Baldwin, in his stellar portrayal of Jayne Cobb, mercenary for hire and member of the crew of the Serenity. If you are fan of Serenity or Firefly, or both, good for you. As am I. That's key to this story, so put it in memory. If you want more detail about the hat, and what it's all about, go here:
Jayne's Hat Brigade. (I haven't asked for permission to place that link, but that will be the least of my sins in this post...)

That page will give you plenty of detail.

Now it's not this hat specifically, that I am on about. About three weeks ago, I received a box, in the mail. The box was simply addressed to me, and in and of itself was completely unassuming. It featured nothing besides the postmark and my name and address. I naturally assumed it was yet another eBay purchase which I had lost track of.
When I opened the box it was filled with 3 things. Actually, it was filled with excelsior. Nestled among the excelsior (and who packs anything with excelsior these days anyways) is a hand written note and a hat. This hat is a knitted cap, oddly shaped. The included note is hand written, in an unrecognized scrawl.

The note includes such comments as "Your brother Matty is still suffering from the wet lung."

At this point in the reading of the note, my dear wife, Rebecca (also purportedly a fan of both Firefly and Serenity), suspects the worst. Some fiend has sent us a plague infested hat. And wash your hands. The hat is placed on the top of the fridge. It sits there (out of her reach, really) for three days. She contacts Canada Post in an effort to track the package back to its source. No dice. Feeling that discretion is the better part of valor, she trashes the hat (with my permission, of course).

Two. Weeks. Later.

While at a bachelorette party for a mutual friend, said wife speaks with the wife of a close, personal friend. Who drops the hint "Soooo ... did you guys receive a package lately?"

Yes, dear reader, it is at this point that you may wish to turn to some other blog. Perhaps the blog of some other, better informed SciFi nut. One who gets it. In this case it being the fact that the hat in the box, with the excelsior, and the note, of no return address, is in a hand made replica of the Jayne Cobb hat, with authentic note as seen in the episode of Firefly, entitled "The Message".

Yes, I have already turned in my Firefly fanclub card.

I hang my head in shame.