What must we look like to those looking in, this strange gaggle of beach-goers?
Are we business executives, consultants, lawyers, bankers, inn keepers, entrepreneurs, veterinarians, personal trainers, restaurateurs, oil speculators or Hollywood producers?
Are we sexual deviants, queers, drag queen wannabees, evil lesbians, gold diggers, sugar daddies, hags and fags?
Are we pot heads, alcoholics, illegal and prescription drug abusers?
Or are we artists; painters, sculptors, writers, actors, musicians, landscapers and decorators?
And where do we come from? Are we from the North-West, the North-East, the mid-West, the South or Mexico? Are we from a diverse community where hippies, ex-hippies, paint splashed artists, escaped criminals, cougars and mummies collectively walk cobblestone streets?
If asked, I would say, “Yes, we are all of these things.”
We offer no apologies, we have no regrets. Together we form a unique collective of creative souls, an alternative family. We are moody, bitchy, opinionated and judgmental. We are also generous, forgiving, supportive and loving.
We are old, young, fat, skinny and buff. We are white and we are brown. We are bi-lingual, bi-cultural, bi-polar and bi-sexual. We have big dicks, little dicks, harry parts, shaved parts and apparently . . . large canopies.
Sometimes we get drunk and swing from trees, fall down, yell at police officers or give ourselves bad haircuts. Some of us break and bleed.
We love animals and when we can, we recycle and try to be “green”. We volunteer and attempt to help those less fortunate. We laugh and we cry.
So I would say to those looking in, try stepping in. Have a drink, a toke or a bump. Let your hair down, take your clothes off. All you need to gain acceptance is the ability to go with the flow, bring a sense of humor to the table and not take yourself too seriously.
We ask that you keep our secrets but not our money. That you bring a bottle, a pipe or a tiny spoon, but not the police. That you dress or undress for the occasion. And that you make a fool of yourself without requiring an ambulance.
One of my favorite quotes from an unknown author, is:
"Life is not meant to be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming - "WOW - What a ride!"
So you looky-loos, we were what we were and now we are what we are. Good luck putting a label on it.
