Remember when I wrote about the nine things that the Blue Zones have in common? You may remember that Blue Zones are those places in the world that boast an extraordinary number of centenarians. When I read the Blue Zones book, I immediately identified my women’s group (I’ll call them Tapestry because that is what we call ourselves) as the important group of friends who help each other to live a healthier, longer life, which is one of the nine principles.

Tapestry has in common that we all used to go to the same church. Now we have in common that we live in the same neighborhood, as only two of us are still at the church, three go elsewhere and two of us are currently unchurched. We started as a Bible study, moved on to book study with dessert and wine, added snacks and abandoned books, then replaced snacks with dinner.

We wanted to study books and we did fine until our more scholarly Ginny moved away and left us rudderless in the book study department. Our heart wasn’t in it. And dessert, snacks and wine won.

We were weak. And hungry.

Anyway, we’ve been together now for over twenty years and have shared incredible joys (weddings, grandchildren, graduations, promotions, retirements, travel) and devastating sorrows (deaths of children and husbands, divorces, lost jobs, illness, Alzheimer’s, Ginny moving, Robin dying.) All the things that life tosses at us. We have met every month for all those years, Zooming during COVID, laughing, crying and just hugging each other along the way.

So this last weekend we packed up two carloads of dinner, dessert, wine, games, movies and ourselves and went to Broken Bow, OK, to enjoy a stay in a wonderful cabin that Karen had won!

And while we were there, we experienced a few of the things that Blue Zones promote:

1. Lifelong friends as a support group–check
2. Downshifting
3. Moving naturally
4. Wine every day

DOWNSHIFTING: Taking a weekend away from the stresses of everyday life. Three of us still work at actual jobs, and I am only semi-retired, working a few hours every weekday, three are fully retired. All but one have children, five have grandchildren, two have parents living in their house. Work and family cause stress, even if you love them. And some of these family members live a distance away, which is also hard on everyone. Family too close, family too far, family with health issues, money issues, relationship issues, and also the lack of family.

My point is that getting away even for a few days is vital sometimes. To be in the quiet, to be in nature, to be with friends, not to have to cook, not to have to answer the phone or emails (that’s harder as we discovered,) and to just sit and do nothing, these are things that revitalize us, rejuvenate us, fill the well with energy, stamina or creativity, or open us up to possibilities and opportunities.

If stress is a universal concern these days, then a weekend away with friends or family or even alone, is the antidote we all need.

CHECK

MOVING: Nancy is an avid walker, and she led a couple of us on a lovely foray into the nature surrounding our cabin. We looked for the deer we had seen earlier, talked about nothing in particular, noticed the new cabins being built and the old ones that seemed to grow organically from the red clay, hosting family and friend weekends for years past and years to come. It felt good to be out in the cold, damp air. It felt good to move.

CHECK

WINE: As you read above, wine has become a staple of our gatherings, although we rarely finish more than a bottle of each color. And we do go by color instead of type as none of us is an aficionado of any wine in particular. But dry wins out over sweet.

This proved true when we booked a wine tasting at Girls Gone Wine in Broken Bow. It is a sassy bar and boutique shopping experience that is a popular spot for bachelorette parties and oldheads on a road trip. You get to guess which one were.

The wine tasting was so fun and so lot of wine, just saying. Betty was our designated driver (and at 89, she was no such thing.) But she got a sparkling juice and a tiny charcuterie. We all could have had charcute, but we were heading for pizza after picking up some necessities in the shop, including bottles of their cute (names and labels) and delicious wine.

I don’t know if any of us drink wine at 5 everyday, as the Blue Zones suggest, but we love sharing a glass or two when we’re together. As Wren would say, “It’s kind of your thing, Gams.”

CHECK

So, we drove home in the rain on Monday, one of us heading to the hospital to see about her dad who had fallen that morning. So back to the real world of family, work, past times, friends, and health–all the things that fill us with joy or concern. And make us so grateful to have these women in our lives.

I hope they know how much they mean to me.