Is he weird or is he eccentric?

There is a certain amount of power in being mildly eccentric.
Not flagrantly so… no no, just eccentric enough to make people curious about you.

In my case it has to do with the hat I wear. To me, it is a practical application. It keeps the sun out of my eyes and the rain off my glasses. I’m summat hard of hearing and for that reason it acts as a sound deflector and in that way it helps me hear a little better.

It also gives one an idea of what to expect of those around you by the way they react to it.

Little kids think you’re an event!

It really puts some people off, I’ll admit, but I kinda feel sorry for those kind of folks because they tend to carry a long list of things they dislike and are checking and re-checking that list often. It's only a hat, after all.

In my hat is the tail feather of a blue and gold macaw, a large, obnoxious, South American parrot. I like tail feathers because they're longer as a rule. The feather is blue on one side and yellowish on the other (How do birds do that?).
FAQ’s are:
“Is that a pheasant feather?” Having never seen a blue pheasant I think the safe answer would be ‘no’.
“Is that a peacock feather?” I suppose that’s fair since few people have actually ever seen a peacock.
“Where did you get that feather?” I often wonder why they ask that. Are they going to go buy one?
For a long time I got them from a pretty blonde who asked me to wear her feathers, retrieved from her pet’s molt on the condition that those be the only ones I wear. But people really don’t want an answer to a question if it takes more than five words which makes you wonder why they asked you to begin with.
The blonde has since escaped into marriage so now I tell them “I get ‘em on E.Bay.” which is currently the truth and much easier to tell.

And from hats we go to my walking stick often erroneously called a ‘cane’.
Well, a ‘cane’ is an aid to walking if one has balance problems. I can still maneuver unaided so my affected encumberance is a walking stick.

I started carrying a walking stick when I got lightly nipped by an undisciplined dog. No dog has confronted me since so the idea appears to have had merit.
At the time I was involved in the management of a saloon and I found that the walking stick contributed to an aura of nuanced authority there and made some belligerents less so and contributed to maintaining order although I never had to raise it in anger.
I finally figured it out while watching, of all things, a Discovery program about animals on the Serengeti Plain.
Predatory animals do not go after the robust, the ones who might fight or injure them. They go for them that look like an easy grab. The weak ones.
I think the walking stick has served me in this manner since I walk more than I drive. Predatory humans are less likely to trifle with a 200+ pound male carrying a stick in much the same manner that one might carry an unsheathed sword…
I am definitely not a fighter or a violent type but BadGuys seem content to not test the waters.
It seems to work well that way...