Most folks who know me, don't know that I hold a secret....er...not so much, now, fondness for country music. To me, listening to country music, feels like putting on a swim suit, oiling up with sun screen that smells like vanilla-tinted coconut, and leisuring in a make-shift boat, drifting to nowhere fast, and loving every second of it
I would never play a round of "Name That Country Song In 8 Seconds Or Less," but sometimes it just feels good.
Still, there's one voice I could name out of thousands.
She's outrageous, somewhat plastic. She's kind, open and gives back. She's supportive of men, of the softer sort (yes, I just wrote that) who've spent years perfecting their best Dolly Mannerisms. She's lovely. She's not bashful about the "work" she's had done. She's a legend. She's genuine, and she's the kind of woman whose happiness I wish I could channel, bottle up, sell and swipe on my wrists, like perfume.
And when her song, "Jolene" plays, the axis upon which our Earth spins, ceases to spin...all is still.
I typically have a high regard for the quieter woman, whose footprint on this place is smaller, whose voices are softer and whose purpose on this planet is simpler...but...
I love Dolly Parton.
I think what I love most about this woman, is the fact that she is my polar opposite, with blonde hair, a voice like silk and a disposition which I'm certain would bring the Devil, himself, to his knees. She is the embodiment of wicked-talent, and damn if she takes the 21st Century vision of "women in business" and throws it to the wolves. Her boobs could float Naval ship and her hair could wrap that ship like a present. Her lipstick is the color of blood and her nails are her backwoods instrument. She is totally feminine, flirts like a demon, giggles like a school-girl and she OWNS it, never hiding behind herself. She proves that a woman can come out of the 70's, wearing heels, boobs, dresses, nails and still kick the Man's World where it hurts, laughing all the way to the bank. I used to think intelligent women, whose mission it was to be taken seriously, wore pants suits and gold stud earrings. Uh-uh. Nope. Some wear 7-inch pink patten leather heels, with nails and lip color to match. Buh-bye pants suits- you were never, ever cute. Ever.
And that is why I smile when I see Ms Dolly Parton.
