Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) shared more folksy stories of her childhood on Wednesday, telling reporters that she used to wear a bucket on her head for no apparent reason. Id be walking outside our house and see a bucket lying there, and Id say to myself, Thats a perfectly good bucket, I think Ill put it on my head, she said. It wasnt because I needed a hat or anything. I must have had, oh gosh, a half-dozen hats or so. I just wanted to wear a bucket. Ernst said that during her youth, she was known for poking a hole in a large piece of corrugated cardboard and wearing it as a poncho. I cant for the life of me tell you why I did that, she said. I just liked the look of it, I guess. Nobody paid much attention to it. People sure dont notice your cardboard poncho when youre wearing a bucket on your head. When asked why she was sharing these stories, Sen. Ernst considered her answer carefully. I think people like to get to know their representatives in Washington as people, she said. And it helps to know that one of them used to wear buckets on her head, corrugated cardboard ponchos, and scuba flippers instead of gloves. Did I tell you I used to wear scuba flippers instead of gloves? To this day Ill be darned if I know why I did that. 