My Mother is a Red Hat Lady

A couple years ago when we were in New Zealand, my son, Matthew, and his friend, Jamie, decided they wanted to go busking down by the Arts Centre. So I took them, Matthew was doing the living statue thing and Jamie brought along his guitar. There wasn't much going on for a while and the kids were getting little money in their hat and guitar case, but they were having a good time. There were two sweet little girls who played their violins near by and they seemed to be attracting most of the attention of passers by. Then all of a sudden there was a lot of activity on Worcester Boulevard. The timing couldn't have been better for the young buskers as a Red Hat Society convention had just let out for a break. You can't miss these Red Hat ladies when they have come together for a gathering. They wear red hats and dress in a lot of purple and foo-foo. The ladies were quite taken by the young buskers and proceeded to drop money into their receptacles. I talked to some of them. They were attending a nation-wide Red Hat Society convention in Christchurch. They had come from all over New Zealand and they were having a great time. This was before the earthquakes that damaged so much of downtown Christchurch and put the Arts Centre off limits. "My mother is a Red Hat Lady" I told them. "She lives near Spokane in Cheney, Washington." I also told them about the mystery novel my mother wrote, The Hat Pin Murders, which is a about some Red Hat ladies that have a rather adventurous time when a murder takes place within their group. I hope those ladies in New Zealand were able to order a copy of Mom's book. I thought it was kind of cool to be able to talk to some women in New Zealand about my mother who lives in America. The Red Hats are the largest social organization in the world. You can find out more about them by clicking here