Janis Owens
Pulpwood Queens of Jefferson, Texas
January 22nd, 2008I have just returned from the zaniest book club on earth – the Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend in Jefferson, Texas, which is the brainchild of blonde extraordinaire, Kathy Patrick, author of The Pulpwood Queen’s Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life. If you haven’t bought your wife a Valentine’s Day present, this book would be a winner – maybe with a box of Godiva chocolates. It has all the hallmarks of a great read: laughter and insight and great book recommendations, and who can resist a woman who proudly (and accurately) self-describes as “Hairdresser to the Authors and Founder of The Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs.” She teased my hair up a mile high for The Ball of Hair – the weekend finale that was truly about the funniest night I’ve had in a long time. The Tyler, Texas chapter of the Pulpwood Queens won the trophy this year and as they all danced around the dance floor in their vintage leopard-print dresses and bouffant hairstyles, I began to have an inkling of why Isabel has abandoned hearth and home here in North Florida in favor of the Lone Star State. One thing you can say for Texans: they know how to cut loose and have a good time.
They also know how to make a stranger feel welcome. Case in point: on my way there, my suitcase was consumed in the maw of the Atlanta airport, never to return, so I had to spend my first morning buying new clothes. I walked downtown and stopped at a drugstore – an old-fashioned kind with a soda fountain and a table full of old men drinking coffee. When I asked the cashier for directions to the nearest clothing store and explained my dilemma, the entire store – which had apparently listened in on our conversation - leapt to commiserate. The pharmacist came to the door at the front of the store and told me, “Little girl, you should have pitched a bigger fit,” meaning I should have insisted on someone finding my suitcase, I guess. I didn’t ask; I was too charmed at being called Little Girl in public, with no irony or sarcasm intended.
It greatly lessened the sting of the lost luggage, I’ll tell you that.
All hail the Pulpwood Queens, and God bless Texas.
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