Funny Girls Wearing Hats

After work on Sunday night, Amy and I drove down to San Jose to be with Cindy. "We can't be afraid to do what we know we have to do. Ya-ya!" Her boyfriend, Jason, had just left for Japan. Now, he won't be gone long, but she was hurting. Loneliness is something none of us do well with. Anyway, together we watched Pretty Woman and ate the chocolate I supplied from See's. Girl time, though, wasn't over.

Cindy came home with me that night. On Monday I wrote my paper while Cin read her book. We went downtown for coffee (er... diet Coke) and we completed a crossword puzzle! (Amy very kindly informed us that Monday's puzzle is always the easiest for the week... thank you so very much, Amy Lynn!) Fun, though, was still to come!

Jon took us all to the A's game! Terrific match. A's won after 11 innings and some hair-raising plays. Fireworks show was fabulous at the end, too. On Tuesday we went shopping! Oh, how we shopped. Nobody does it better. Because of the papers I've been working on recently I've developed an urge to wear hats. Not making sense? Sometime I'll explain more.

We're crazy, we Ya-Yas, at least sometimes. I've included a few pictures. The one at the top is, of course, of us wearing our own creations. Yay for hats! Below are pictures from the "Lingerie Shower" Cindy threw for me at her apartment in San Jose last summer. It's fun being girls, which, I suppose is my point.

The real purpose of this entry, though, is to offer my latest poem up to the universe. Inspired by the essence of the Ya-Yas... read on.

Funny Girls Wearing Hats

funny girls wearing hats
giggling 'till the break of dawn
this is what you see in us
not our fathom-deep hearts
not our grappling with life
not the times we dip tentative toes
into womanhood
we are moonbeams dancing
where no dancing is allowed
self-assuring as three
and scared of nothing but ourselves
and of loneliness
you gaze on our girlish times
but if you blink you might miss it
our deep red laughter like tomatoes
or a summer dawn
on a day so long
we can fill it double-full
with all our antics and adventures
a silver triangle, entwined with daring
dazzling flowers
spins 'till it looks like a circle of light
that's us
we three
for even as you shake your head
a-wonderin' at our childish play
you're dazzled, inspired
you're green
waste not, want not, we say as we run
flying fleetly 'round our little town
singing only slightly off key
a song that rings a little bell
somewhere deep inside
and you begin to sing along
but we're gone again
a trail of pink and happy in our wake
that's what you see
we're women on our own, though
living hard and long
just like everybody else and you
but sometimes we're enchanted
by the presence of the other two
angelic demons prancing on the ridgepole of life
blowin' kisses and dandelions
beckoning to ourselves, our big selves
come and play!
that's when we don our hats
and suddenly we're youth
we're pleasure
we're rootbeer popcicles and cotton candy
grass between your toes
if you can't beat 'em, join 'em
there's simply nothing else to do!

-Audrey Camp, 2005

***BONUS ENTRY***

TWINS!

And, because I just re-discovered this picture, and because Cindy doesn't read my blog nearly as often as she should and therefore must be punished... When Amy's wonderful sister, Heather, was getting married last July, she allowed Ames to bring "a date" to her wedding. Seeing as how choosing between the two of us would have been just awful, Amy persuaded Heather to let us both come. Never in the history of weddings has anyone made such a blunder. Cindy and I didn't want to be overwhelming. Maybe no one would notice Amy's two dates if they looked exactly alike. Uh-huh. You see where I'm going here. As twins we entered the church, the reception hall, the dance floor. What happened that night became legend. Think... ummmm... whirling dervish... times two... in short pink dresses and high heels! That was us. Oh, but that was exciting. Yes, Ames, we know you were proud.