At 10:05 PM 9/13/05 -0400, Tamara P Duvall wrote: >On Sep 13, 2005, at 3:25, Alice Howell wrote:
>. . . The following should have - probably - > gone on to chat, since it no longer has any connection to lace, > however tenuous, > . . . > However... To wear a red hat, with a purple band (to match the purple > clothes) as a *required uniform*, seems to me to be a total refutation > of the spirit of the poem; a *denial* of the wish for freedom expressed > in it... Ah, I'm relieved to hear about the purple band -- now I can stop feeling nervous every time I wear my all-red hat! I might even make another one. (I've got some red ramie around here somewhere.) Like Tamara, the first time I read the poem, I said "Oh, <expression of exasperation>! If you want to wear purple, wear purple *now*! When you are old, you might not *like* purple. You might not get to *be* old!" Now I'm merely disgruntled that the admirers of the poem have made a trademark of red hats. (I never did like purple as a dress color.) But I don't see it as a straitjacket -- it's a club uniform, a sign saying "Hey, everybody, we're a bunch of old broads out to have fun!" Since the Red Hats wear the uniform only at meetings, I don't see it as any different from a softball uniform, or a yellow jersey with "Mohawk-Hudson Wheelmen" printed on the back in blue. But it does make life awkward for any old women who happen to look good in purple and aren't interested in the club. -- Joy Beeson http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ http://home.earthlink.net/~dbeeson594/ROUGHSEW/ROUGH.HTM http://home.earthlink.net/~beeson_n3f/ west of Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A. where the rain came just in time. But we want another one. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
