Rockin the Red Hats

I just returned from a glorious nine day vacation in the mountains of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Being there is like being in another country almost; low key, laid back and teeming with nature's bounty. Almost heaven.

It was great seeing my parents, visiting old friends, going junking, hearing some good music and soaking up nature. But more about all that later. First, one of the things I was enlightened to - a "society" known as the Red Hats. Yes, my Mom rocks the Red Hats, and she is having a stone cold blast too.

The Red Hat Society is a social organization where there is fun after fifty (and before) for women of all walks of life.

This is a direct quote from their website. It's also true; I have witnessed it with my own eyes, recorded for posterity on a DVD!

Take for example, the Bonnett Belles of Blountville, TN. These ladies know how to party. They threw a big shindig a while back, with a "Roaring 20s" theme, complete with speakeasys, flappers, lots of fringe and feathers, song and dance, good food and even a liquor raid (for entertainment purposes only of course!) at the conclusion of the evening.

I just can't tell you how happy it made me to see my Mom right in the midst of it all, in her fringy red dress and sequined headband, sleek cigarette holder in one hand and liquor bottle in the other. No, really; I'm serious! I've never seen such a bunch of happy women, all dressed up, singing, smiling, dancing; laughing like nothing else on this earth mattered much at all. It was a glorious thing to behold.

Wait...yes I have. I have seen such a thing. I've seen it quite often actually; at every single Clay Aiken concert I've ever attended.

There are no age restrictions on fun, last time I checked.

As I become older, the media bias toward men and women, mostly women, of a "certain age" becomes more and more evident in any discussion of our "youth-oriented" culture. It's a curious thing, and a phenomenon that is, in my opinion, worth investigating. And I will. But first, I'm going to have some fun.

Because really, what is the purpose of life, if not to find pleasure in all that we do? Whether it's at a Red Hat Society party or a hockey game, on the golf course or at a concert. Whether it's while we are helping others, working, studying or playing - we should strive to not only find purpose and meaning in our life, but also, pleasure and passion.

Life's too short for anything else.