Red Hat Ladies and Seed Cap Gentlemen
The Meneset Red Hat Ladies of the Lake-- a philanthropic sorority of senior women here in Goderich-- recently caused quite a commotion by publishing a successful fundraising calendar on behalf of breast cancer awareness. The reason for the commotion was that the women posed nude, their nakedness covered only by strategically-placed props. In a letter to the editor of the Goderich Signal star, Carolyn Parks explained the latter-day calendar girl manifesto:
Our message was that women are more than their breasts and that women ‘of a certain age’ are sensuous and lush creatures.
Someone wise once told me that as we age, we regret what we didn’t do. The brave women of Meneset and Sistership are working at regretting nothing!
Why do these Ladies of the Lake wear red hats and purple dresses? The inspiration is drawn from a tremendously popular poem entitled "Warning: When I Am Old, I Shall Wear Purple" by Jenny Joseph. This poem expresses a similar message to that of the calendar. Here is the first stanza:
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'm insipired by these women, and the way they've redefined themsevles and started a movement. Because of this, I've taken the liberty of re-writing the poem from a man's perspective:
When I am an old man, I shall wear Leafs blue on game days
With a Pioneer seed cap that doesn’t match and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension money on Molson’s, TSN,
And fishing lures, and say we have no money for milk.
I shall sit on a five gallon bucket while fishing from the pier
And wake early on Saturdays for yard sales and timbits.
I’ll gobble up samples at Zehr’s, whistle in the checkout line,
And make up for the propriety of my youth.
I will learn to tie flies without pitching a fit
And wash my clothes only when they start to stink.
I’ll wear terrible trousers and sprout hair from my ears,
eat six pounds of sausages in a row,
and rediscover the vices of my youth
having proved my virtue enough years ago.
As for now, we all have to keep up appearances.
We have to pay our rent and watch the words we speak
And set a good example for the children.
But maybe I should practise a little now…
So people who know me are not too startled and appalled
When suddenly, I am old, and start to wear a seed cap.
Our message was that women are more than their breasts and that women ‘of a certain age’ are sensuous and lush creatures.
Someone wise once told me that as we age, we regret what we didn’t do. The brave women of Meneset and Sistership are working at regretting nothing!
Why do these Ladies of the Lake wear red hats and purple dresses? The inspiration is drawn from a tremendously popular poem entitled "Warning: When I Am Old, I Shall Wear Purple" by Jenny Joseph. This poem expresses a similar message to that of the calendar. Here is the first stanza:
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'm insipired by these women, and the way they've redefined themsevles and started a movement. Because of this, I've taken the liberty of re-writing the poem from a man's perspective:
When I am an old man, I shall wear Leafs blue on game days
With a Pioneer seed cap that doesn’t match and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension money on Molson’s, TSN,
And fishing lures, and say we have no money for milk.
I shall sit on a five gallon bucket while fishing from the pier
And wake early on Saturdays for yard sales and timbits.
I’ll gobble up samples at Zehr’s, whistle in the checkout line,
And make up for the propriety of my youth.
I will learn to tie flies without pitching a fit
And wash my clothes only when they start to stink.
I’ll wear terrible trousers and sprout hair from my ears,
eat six pounds of sausages in a row,
and rediscover the vices of my youth
having proved my virtue enough years ago.
As for now, we all have to keep up appearances.
We have to pay our rent and watch the words we speak
And set a good example for the children.
But maybe I should practise a little now…
So people who know me are not too startled and appalled
When suddenly, I am old, and start to wear a seed cap.
