The oddest thought occurred to me today. You know when you just catch yourself thinking odd things. I was looking through my parents photos of their trip to Hamburg, and I thought: 'I miss Dad's cap'. Not 'I miss dad,' but 'I miss dad's cap'. I saw a picture of my father in his ccap, and this odd thought just arose. Of course, my dad's cap is now part of my dad's identity; he often collected me from university wearing it, so I associate that cap with a warm feeling.

You know, I've never written on my blog how much I respect my father, or how close we are. He is, without doubt, the man whom I respect the most in all the world: he brought me and my brother's up well, teaching us to value learning, and to always do our best. This is also a man whom I can always depend on for a cuddle. He has the best reading voice I've ever heard, and it was he who introduced me to the writings of Tolkien and Asimov. Seeing my dad in those pictures, ccap on his head as protection from the German winter, just stopped me in my tracks. I love this brave new urban world in which I find myself, yet sometimes I need to see that cap an the truly great man who wears itt.