"Give
me a head with hair, long beautiful hair, shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen"
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| Me in my hairier days |
These words from the famous song from the play, HAIR, are not referring to a woman's tresses. And in my family, long hair was strictly a female thing. The 60s were tough on my parents.
Recently, I
got my hair cut shorter than normal. A change was due. But in my family, a
woman’s decision to cut off her hair comes after much anguish. I come from a
family of long haired women. A family that put a lot of stock in the womanliness
of hair. We all go to hair salons and do cut our hair, but our hair normally is
at least shoulder length. I’ve been more of a trailblazer in hair length…but it
always covered my neck. My mother is eighty-six and last week got her hair cut
so that it no longer touched her shoulders—first time ever! She must’ve liked
my new look.
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| Recently clipped |
As
much as we were raised to love our hair, there were hair rules in our house.
You NEVER brushed your hair anywhere near the kitchen. Finding a hair in food
was akin to roaches in the rice. If you were at the dinner table and felt the
need to run your hands through your hair, you’d be promptly reminded to “stop
that. You’ll get hair in your food”.
I
remember a plane trip I took with Mom once. I had the aisle seat, and she sat
in the middle. Part way through the flight, the girl by the window took out her
hairbrush and spent the last part of her trip grooming. I thought my mom would
have a coronary. She had to tell our relatives on the ground how the woman next
to her just wouldn’t quit playing with her hair.
Yesterday,
while brushing my teeth with an electric toothbrush, I felt something lodge
itself between two of my front teeth. No matter out I brushed, it seemed to
become more compacted. When the brush finally finished its cycle and I could
rinse, I felt it…a hair tickled my lip protruding from between my teeth. Oh
ewwww!
It occurred
to me, all my heroines have long hair. It’s about time I wrote a cute, short
hairstyle into one of my books. And, hmmmm, wonder if I could write a murder by
hair. Strangled? Choked? It’s enough to make me gag, thinking about it.
Brenda
and her husband are gypsies at heart having lived in six states and two
countries. Currently, they split their time between the pines of Northern
Arizona, the desert of Southern Arizona, and the RV life. Wherever she roams,
she spends most of her time writing stories of discovery, suspense, and the
tangled relationships of life.
Visit
Brenda at www.brendawhiteside.com
Or
on FaceBook: www.facebook.com/BrendaWhitesideAuthor
She
blogs on the 9th and 24th of every month at http://rosesofprose.blogspot.com
She
blogs about life’s latest adventure on her personal blog http://brendawhiteside.blogspot.com/
Amazon
Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003V15WF8
Goodreads
Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3972045.Brenda_Whiteside
22 comments:
Love the new do. Both my daughters have the longer hair, and my granddaughter! I prefer the shorter route. Less upkeep!
I love the new cut. You look fabulous! I've always had long hair (or at least below my chin) for most of my life. A few years back I cut it all off, much to my husband's dismay. He said, "You look like a man." Not the reaction I hoped for from my husband. :-) Aside from that, my ears were always cold! I got a lot of compliments on that cut though, so who knows. I might just disappoint hubby again one day. Love the post, Brenda!
Yes, Margo, the upkeep was a big part of my reason. I can't do the long straight thing like in the much younger first picture, so I found my long hair was just too much upkeep. I like the shorter but have to go in more often for cutting. It's a trade off.
Leah, men! Frank isn't fond of it so much. He's much less vocal in this second half of our marriage. I did cut it off once many years ago and he had plenty to say. Now...not so much.
Love the new haircut! Yup, the hair in the toothbrush would make me gag. Fun to hear about your mother and growing up. The one downside to having shorter hair is the maintenance. I don't like going every 4-6 weeks, and with short hair, I have to or it drives me crazy.
Looks great. Wise move.
Yep, Jody, I've discovered there is maintenance at one end or the other. But the daily maintenance of my long hair got annoying. And my son told me I look younger with the short so that counts!
Thanks, Maddy.
You look like Naomi Watts Brenda! I have a friend whose very rich mother-in-law is always saying she found hair in her food when they go out to dinner so they comp her the meal! Eeeew!!!!! You're so creative in your story telling, I'm sure you'll find a fab way to write the best hair story EVER!!!
My daughter and I feel the same way as your mom--I can't stand being near someone fussing with their hair especially if it's unkempt. I remember standing behind a woman and her 2 daughters in a line and all of them were flicking their hair around. Yuck. We couldn't stand back far enough. My daughter's hair is short and mine is similar to your new do, which I love
You look great! I had long hair forever. Well, until I was in my 40's. Then I went to shoulder-length mostly because I had to color it. Coloring really long hair is awful! Most of my heroines have long hair, but the one in my current WIP has a short, sassy cut. I try to change it up now and then so my heroines don't all look alike.
The new hairdo looks fabulous on you, Brenda. I love it. And a hair in my food would definitely kick up my gag reflex. My stomach is non-tolerant. There was no brushing of hair in my kitchen either. LOL
Freedom! Easy-care. Love the cut, Brenda. My hair has always been short because I have a long face, accentuated by long hair...I've tried it, but end up looking like an Afghan hound. So when you can't have something, you tend to wish you could... AND, it turns out I get my best ideas when I'm drying my hair with the blow dryer. Think of how brilliant I'd be if I had longer hair to dry!
I love your short cut! Of course, this comes from a woman who's had short hair for decades. My father always loved short hair women--I have no idea why--so my mother always had short hair. My sisters and I had long hair through our teens, but by our mid-twenties, we'd all cut it off.
I've had short hair my entire life, mostly because my mother spent too much time on my sister's long, dark, thick, naturally curly hair. I finally decided last winter to let it grow and see what I got. It is down to my shoulders, wavy and soft. I can't decide if I like it or not. I'm letting it keep growing until I either hate it or love it.
Mary, I'm going to have to look up who Naomi Watt is before I say thank you!
Andrea, funny!
Jannine, yes, I color too and short is so much easier.
Vonnie, thanks!
Rolynn, too funny. I always thought my nose is too big for short hair, but I decided wth!
Alison, your father was a rare breed!
Barbara, well change is good and go how you feel.
My hair is the source of all my magic. And I would look like a twelve-year old boy if I cut it short. Looks great on you though!
I love your new haircut. You look fabulous. I've had short hair for a long time. It's easier. My dad would freak out if there was a hair in the food. I always thought he exaggerated, but I can't stand hair in my mouth. Yuck! Sounds like I'm not alone.
Love the new haircut! My Mom's 'hair rules' were the opposite. After raising 2 girls with unruly long hair before me, I wasn't allowed to have 'long hair' until junior high, presumably when I could take care of it. So I suffered my elementary school years with the 'bowl cut' - done by my Mom. :(
I love your new haircut. I wore mine short for 30-some years because of the convenience of it, but wear it longer now just because it looks better. I have to admit, though, I get hair everywhere!
Hi Brenda, Love your new haircut! I cut my shoulder-hair length in my early twenties and have had a pixie cut since that time. So much easier to maintain but I do miss the versatility of long hair. :)
Wow, Christine, wish my hair was so special!
I think you're one of us, Diane.
Oh Maureen! Well I had to suffer through years of frizzy home perms.
Thanks, Liz.
Thanks, Joanne. I do kind of miss being able to pull it into a pony tail to get it off my face.
Your haircut is adorable! I have been keeping mine short lately, but it doesn't look cute like yours. I've given a few of my heroines short hair. It's fun!
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