I was heartbroken during my recent trip to San Jose to discover I had lost my Tilley Air-Flo three-times-through-an-elephant* hat.

Today, on the occasion of my Best Beloved Wife's birthday, I am happy to report that we stopped at a hat store in artsy-fartsy Hillcrest and found its duplicate in my exact size. Plus we had a lovely brunch at Bread & Cie where they make all their own bread. Delicious.

Now that I am again equipped to adventure into the world, I feel renewed. Life is good.

A

(*This is a true story. An animal keeper lost his beloved Tilley hat to the curiousity and appetite of an elephant, and he was so fond of the hat he waited for it to reappear, washed it throughly, and resumed wearing it. This recurred three times. The Tilley company offered him a new one if they could have the 3-times-through-an-elephant hat for their museum; he refused passionately. Tilley owners do not part with their headgear lightly.)

A