Let us age with: Grace Humor Courage and Confidence
Please pass this on to other seasoned women who will enjoy it.
July had cooled off. The day felt as if it were late May, and all the friends were enjoying Happy Hour outside. Hadley, Robbie, Mary Rose, and Marge had pulled two patio tables together and Alphonso had provided two bottles of good wine. Wiley and Raven were already seated across from the girls and Mary Rose was doing the honors of pouring the wine.
“It’s not quite The Ragged Ass,” Hadley said with a grin. “But it’s a pretty good Happy Hour.” Mary Rose and Robbie smiled and nodded. Marge looked puzzled.
“The Ragged Ass?” Alphonso asked.
“That was before your time here,” Hadley said, taking a sip of her chardonnay. “Mary Rose, Robbie, and I were on a road trip with Maggie Patten, and we more or less took up permanent residence in an RV park close to the world’s greatest saloon, The Ragged Ass.”
“They had clotheslines all around the top of the walls,” Mary Rose said. “And they were hung with all kinds of underwear.” “Long johns, bikinis, granny panties, boxers, all kinds of Jockey brand and more,” Robbie added.
Hadley looked at Robbie. “And you got knocked out in a fight!” Raven grinned.
“Say what?” “Say more!” Alphonso said with obvious interest. “We went to The Ragged Ass almost every day for lunch or early dinner,” Robbie said, reaching for her glass of wine. “The owner was Jimmy, and the cook was Fats. One Sunday afternoon, about one hundred motorcycles zoomed into the parking lot and we jumped up and turned into waitresses.”
“I loved it!” Mary Rose squealed, bouncing up and down in her chair and spilling her wine on Wiley’s arm. She smiled at him and wiped his arm with her napkin. “And I was good!” He grinned back.
“It was packed,” Hadley said, taking over the story. “It was noisy, the jukebox was turned up loud, and Robbie took a pitcher of beer to one table…” “And a fight broke out!” Mary Rose interrupted. “Robbie took a punch to the jaw, and it floored her!” Robbie smiled. “I went down all right. I fell under the table and just before I passed out, I thought, ‘We really need to clean this floor!’”
“The next day we brought sacks of cleaning supplies,” Mary Rose said. “And when the regulars started coming in around four o’clock, the place was spotless.” She grinned with pride.
“We weren’t quite finished,” Hadley said, looking at Mary Rose, “you were still putting place mats and votive candles on the tables.” Mary Rose nodded and looked at the men. “And when Fats the cook came in, he looked around and do you know what he said?” She was so excited with the memory she splashed wine on Wiley again. He brushed it off. “He said, ‘We’ve been visited by the church women from Hell!’” Marge joined in the laughter that came from the girls. The men grinned, looked at each other and Raven shrugged.
“When we left the area, I gave them my red bikini to hang on the clothesline,” Mary Rose said, looking at Wiley. Wiley looked back at her. “What red bikini?”
Everything Changes: Everything Ages (Buddhist Wisdom)
It is what it is; it becomes what you make of it.
A is for Aging A Burned-Out Old Broad’s, Perspective on Growing Old My father died when he was 63 I was 22 He was ancient Now my son is 63 He’s just a kid A is for Ass (describing some people we old people know OR part of the name of a fine saloon: The Ragged Ass)
A Joy Story The Ragged Ass Saloon in Book I – The Burned Out Old Broads at Table 12, is modeled after one of my favorite saloon/steakhouses: Round the Bend. Round the Bend sits high on a hill in a wooded area about thirty miles from us – halfway between Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, in the beautiful Platte River Valley and close to towns with great names such as North Bend, South Bend, and Ashland. They serve steak. When we first went there in 1997, I asked our server what kind of veggies they had. She thought for a second, then smiled at me and said, “French fries?” The menu has expanded since, and I swear you will never find a better steak anywhere. The steaks are thick and juicy and some of the servers have been there since Noah left with the Ark. The place is huge. Friday night is Fish Fry and if you want a seat, you’d better be at the door before four o’clock. But what makes “The Bend” unique is the big sign on the road up to the steakhouse: Round the Ben Home of the Testicle Festival Yep – Testicle Festival. On Father’s day weekend. For more than thirty years. It don’t git no better! And those little round nuggets are good, too,
When Covid hit, Round the Bend, along with all other area restaurants, closed. But being Round the Bend, they put out the word that they were offering 12 of their choice steaks for $99. Just come, pick ‘em up and put ‘em in your freezer. We bought them immediately and drove to the restaurant where one of the servers carried them out to our car in a big shopping bag. As Ted carried them from the garage to our elevator, he said, “These must weigh 25 pounds!” He hefted the shopping bag onto our kitchen bar, opened it up, and started to laugh. I came over and looked. There, on top of the steaks, were two rolls of toilet paper. Remember when we could NOT find toilet paper anywhere? So, we told all our friends, “We paid $99 for two rolls of toilet paper and they threw in 12 choice steaks!” I think I’ll suggest going to The Bend for dinner sometime this week. Want to meet us there?
Grace Humor Courage and Confidence
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