Red Hats

Many years ago I read this poem by English poet Jenny Joseph:

Warning (1961)
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I find myself now old(er) and a member of the group that was inspired by the second line of the poem, the Red Hat Society  which is sort of like the Girl Scouts for us mature ladies (although it is officially open to women of all ages). My chapter is the Royal Oak chapter and is made up of my neighbors. Unlike the Royal Oak Lunch Bunch that just tries different restaurants (nothing wrong with that) this group plans fun activities like a day trip to a museum or a hayride.

Jenny Joseph was not yet 30 when she wrote "Warning" and I was probably about that age when I read it for the first time. Probably like her, I could not imagaine myself as "an old woman". I certainly had no intention (nor do I now) of spending my hard earned pension on "brandy and summer gloves" but I do plan to have a great time with my new lady friends!

;-)

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