When Ohio closed the hair salons it got real for me. You see, I'm one of those lucky people who has a hair person. Not just any random stylist, but a person who helped me to create my look and who I depend on to maintain it. We have a relationship, and he takes his job seriously! Us clients have already been warned away from box dyes while we're practicing our social distancing!
Mr. Josef is popular, not the kind of guy you just call when you need a cut or color. His dance card is full so everything has to be scheduled out in advance. And woe to you if you have to miss an appointment! I've taken off work just to avoid the nightmare of trying to reschedule.
My relationship with my hair color is complicated. I went purple in honor of my 50th birthday. Not so much to look younger, but to express the idea that even though I was 50 (I know, I know. I'm not old.), I'm still a vibrant human being. It's not about trying to look younger, it's about expressing who I am. It's a bonus that it happens to match my overall coloring really well! I've made Mr. Josef promise me that he'll let me know when the hair starts looking too young for my face. So far so good.
I've been contemplating going back to my natural color in honor of my 55th birthday. I'll be graduating school and beginning a new professional phase of my life. Maybe it's time for me to manifest my maturity and to show pride in who I am now.
Before my last hair appointment it had been a few more weeks than usual since I'd last had my color refreshed, so I had longer gray roots than usual. Was this a sign? Was it time to let the purple go?
I stood in front of the mirror and blocked the purple with my hands so I could get a sense of how I'd look gray. My reaction? "Aw hell no!"
I discussed this with my daughters who are my image consultants and they agreed. The purple has become my brand. At the restaurant everyone can identify the server with the purple hair, and even the defendants I met with in the Cuyahoga County jail for my internship liked it. It has become part of who I am, with the extra bonus that it happens to look really good with my overall coloring.
Now I have to figure out what to do about the Pepe Le Pew stripe that is developing down my scalp. Wear it with pride? Develop some type of comb-over? Cut it into a mohawk? Experiment with black cherry Koolaid?
I think having two different hair colors with a sharp line of demarcation is about to be the hot new look. I'm so trendy!
So how are you?
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Friday, March 20, 2020
Keep On the Sunny Side!
Something really weird happened this morning. It was sunny and warm.
Those of you who live in Northern Ohio know what I mean. Lately it seems like if it's sunny it's cold, and if it's warm it's rainy. I think yesterday was the warmest day we've had, but it rained enough to flood our yard
This is the thing that has been really frustrating. I know that going outside is probably the best thing we can be doing - getting sunshine, exercise - but it's either in the 40's with biting winds or rainy which turns all of the green spaces into mud pits.
This morning the sun was shining and when I opened my door it was warm! Since my hip joints have been screaming at me because of all the sitting I've been doing, I decided to go for it. I took a walk! It has made all the difference.
For one thing it gave me a tremendous sense of normalcy. There were other people! People out with dogs, a mom with her toddler in a stroller, joggers...we gave each other wide berth, and I'm sure I was probably a little too excited to greet strangers, but it felt like a normal day. I wasn't sealed in my hermetic bubble. Life was going on! Work guys were working on some utility pipes (not requiring them to be close together, I guess), cars went by with people in them...people who were going somewhere! OK, maybe WalMart to get more toilet paper, but still.
On a whim, before I left the house I washed my hands thoroughly and grabbed some money off my dresser. My walk took me past the Oberlin Kitchen and I went in to get a cup of coffee. It's still open for carryout/delivery. I threw away my creamer containers myself and didn't use any silverware. It was just me, my manager, and the usual cook, and we just talked. We didn't stand near each other, but we talked and laughed. I'm taking a hiatus from serving til I go 2 weeks without a fever and I only have about 5 days left. I've also decided to defer to people who need money more than I do. It was just a joy to see people I know and love. Of course one guy with a mask and blue latex gloves did give me the stink-eye when he came in for his to-go order, but I just backed away until I was safely across the room. Threw away my own coffee cup so no one else needed to touch it. I maintained a distance from the counters and tables. It was a joy to be back.
Spring is coming whether we can see it or not. Crocuses are popping out everywhere and the daffodils are budding but being quite sensible in taking their time to open.
Even as I write this the clouds are rolling back in, and the temperature is steadily dropping. But now I know that the world still exists, and we're all in this bad sci-fi movie together. And there are flowers, and great big puddles, and it's all beautiful.
That's my report for the day...and how are you?
Those of you who live in Northern Ohio know what I mean. Lately it seems like if it's sunny it's cold, and if it's warm it's rainy. I think yesterday was the warmest day we've had, but it rained enough to flood our yard
This is the thing that has been really frustrating. I know that going outside is probably the best thing we can be doing - getting sunshine, exercise - but it's either in the 40's with biting winds or rainy which turns all of the green spaces into mud pits.
This morning the sun was shining and when I opened my door it was warm! Since my hip joints have been screaming at me because of all the sitting I've been doing, I decided to go for it. I took a walk! It has made all the difference.
For one thing it gave me a tremendous sense of normalcy. There were other people! People out with dogs, a mom with her toddler in a stroller, joggers...we gave each other wide berth, and I'm sure I was probably a little too excited to greet strangers, but it felt like a normal day. I wasn't sealed in my hermetic bubble. Life was going on! Work guys were working on some utility pipes (not requiring them to be close together, I guess), cars went by with people in them...people who were going somewhere! OK, maybe WalMart to get more toilet paper, but still.
On a whim, before I left the house I washed my hands thoroughly and grabbed some money off my dresser. My walk took me past the Oberlin Kitchen and I went in to get a cup of coffee. It's still open for carryout/delivery. I threw away my creamer containers myself and didn't use any silverware. It was just me, my manager, and the usual cook, and we just talked. We didn't stand near each other, but we talked and laughed. I'm taking a hiatus from serving til I go 2 weeks without a fever and I only have about 5 days left. I've also decided to defer to people who need money more than I do. It was just a joy to see people I know and love. Of course one guy with a mask and blue latex gloves did give me the stink-eye when he came in for his to-go order, but I just backed away until I was safely across the room. Threw away my own coffee cup so no one else needed to touch it. I maintained a distance from the counters and tables. It was a joy to be back.
Spring is coming whether we can see it or not. Crocuses are popping out everywhere and the daffodils are budding but being quite sensible in taking their time to open.
Even as I write this the clouds are rolling back in, and the temperature is steadily dropping. But now I know that the world still exists, and we're all in this bad sci-fi movie together. And there are flowers, and great big puddles, and it's all beautiful.
That's my report for the day...and how are you?
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
This Ain't No Party, This Ain't No Disco
This ain't no fooling around! (Song lyrics blatantly stolen from The Talking Head's song "Life During Wartime." One of their best!).
Feels unreal, doesn't it?
I just have to say that I'm really bad at this whole quarantine thing. I mean, I'm doing it because there is a chance I was directly exposed to the dreaded virus, but I don't do it well. I've never called myself a good self-starter and, hoo boy, I was right! As many people correctly point out, this is a good time to slow down and attend to the interior life. Do that house project you've always wanted to do. Read books, write poetry, color, dance, sing...our opportunities are almost endless.
But this is me. What do I do? I start sleeping in until 10am, grab a cup of coffee and wonder what to do next while accomplishing very little. I've had to complete a couple of school assignments but it took every ounce of discipline I own to get through them. Plus I'm started to get the "tomorrows". Sure, I could do that reading tonight, but there's always tomorrow. Maybe I should just take a nap. Each day just feels like a lump of time to get through.
I'm going to try to do better. Tomorrow (of course!) I'm going to try getting up at 8am. Maybe plan my day so I devote a certain number of hours to schoolwork and maybe work ahead as much as I can. (!) I can bake when I get bored, I've started a jigsaw puzzle, and it's the beginning of the spring water fowl migration if I need to get out of the house.
But I'm suffering a weird kind of ennui. I'm still jumpy every time I happen to cough. I'm really worried about exposing my husband so periodically I maniacally run about the house wiping random surfaces with anti-germ wipes (Door knobs! Light switches!). I make sure our towels are separate and I'm doing my own laundry. This does seem kind of moot, however, considering we're still sleeping in the same bed. We have our limits! I spend a lot of time on my phone with emails, Facebook, and texts. I'm becoming one with my couch. Meanwhile, my husband is one of those functional people who is sorting the stuff in the attic. I look really bad by comparison.
These are strange, strange times. I had a conversation with my sister who experienced a big flood. It was triggered by heavy rains upriver from where she lives. They had a lot of advanced warnings that the flood was coming, complete with maps of the areas affected. Even with all that information, she said, you really didn't know what it was going to look like until it happened. People tried to prepare, but it's not easy when you don't know how high the water is going to get, or what that looks like when it's approaching your house.
Maybe that's it. I don't know what a pandemic looks like, how bad it will get, what I need to prepare for. I'm not sure that it has fully sunk-in that Tom won't be going to work, and I'm not doing shifts at the restaurant. I won't be riding the train into Cleveland, sitting in class with my school posse, having dinner with friends. And it's going to be like this for awhile. I better get used to this alternate existence and start managing my time.
Good luck with that. {sigh}
One thing I've realized I can do is start writing again. It's been over two years since I've posted in here! Glad I could still find it! I'm back, kids!
I'm just warming up, of course. If I have any deep thoughts I will share them. So that's what's up with me.
And how are you?
I just have to say that I'm really bad at this whole quarantine thing. I mean, I'm doing it because there is a chance I was directly exposed to the dreaded virus, but I don't do it well. I've never called myself a good self-starter and, hoo boy, I was right! As many people correctly point out, this is a good time to slow down and attend to the interior life. Do that house project you've always wanted to do. Read books, write poetry, color, dance, sing...our opportunities are almost endless.
But this is me. What do I do? I start sleeping in until 10am, grab a cup of coffee and wonder what to do next while accomplishing very little. I've had to complete a couple of school assignments but it took every ounce of discipline I own to get through them. Plus I'm started to get the "tomorrows". Sure, I could do that reading tonight, but there's always tomorrow. Maybe I should just take a nap. Each day just feels like a lump of time to get through.
I'm going to try to do better. Tomorrow (of course!) I'm going to try getting up at 8am. Maybe plan my day so I devote a certain number of hours to schoolwork and maybe work ahead as much as I can. (!) I can bake when I get bored, I've started a jigsaw puzzle, and it's the beginning of the spring water fowl migration if I need to get out of the house.
But I'm suffering a weird kind of ennui. I'm still jumpy every time I happen to cough. I'm really worried about exposing my husband so periodically I maniacally run about the house wiping random surfaces with anti-germ wipes (Door knobs! Light switches!). I make sure our towels are separate and I'm doing my own laundry. This does seem kind of moot, however, considering we're still sleeping in the same bed. We have our limits! I spend a lot of time on my phone with emails, Facebook, and texts. I'm becoming one with my couch. Meanwhile, my husband is one of those functional people who is sorting the stuff in the attic. I look really bad by comparison.
These are strange, strange times. I had a conversation with my sister who experienced a big flood. It was triggered by heavy rains upriver from where she lives. They had a lot of advanced warnings that the flood was coming, complete with maps of the areas affected. Even with all that information, she said, you really didn't know what it was going to look like until it happened. People tried to prepare, but it's not easy when you don't know how high the water is going to get, or what that looks like when it's approaching your house.
Maybe that's it. I don't know what a pandemic looks like, how bad it will get, what I need to prepare for. I'm not sure that it has fully sunk-in that Tom won't be going to work, and I'm not doing shifts at the restaurant. I won't be riding the train into Cleveland, sitting in class with my school posse, having dinner with friends. And it's going to be like this for awhile. I better get used to this alternate existence and start managing my time.
Good luck with that. {sigh}
One thing I've realized I can do is start writing again. It's been over two years since I've posted in here! Glad I could still find it! I'm back, kids!
I'm just warming up, of course. If I have any deep thoughts I will share them. So that's what's up with me.
And how are you?
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