I finally gave in and surrendered. It was a hard and long fight, the battle has been
on-going for three decades. I gave it my
best but in the end, that just wasn’t enough.
Reality slowly started to creep into my consciousness and late last week,
I threw up my arms in capitulation. But
I am left with some memories. To this
day, when I swim and dive into the water, I come up and whip my head back for
once such a move was required to keep my hair out of my eyes. But no more!
Actually, whipping my head when I come up out of the water hasn’t been
required since I was in my early or mid-20s. That was back in my Afro-days,
when my hair was wild and crazy. After I
decided military life wasn’t for me, I let it grow and grow. In my late twenties, when I received the last
haircut by my hair stylist in North Carolina before moving to Pittsburgh for
grad school, she took pity on me and charged me half price as a going away
gift. But she couldn’t leave it at that;
she then told me she only had to do half the work on my head. Do you think she got a tip? I didn’t think so. By the time I was in my forties, I was in full
retreat. I kept my sides cut short. I had
to keep the sides trimmed more and more to keep from looking like Bozo. I also
began to collect caps and hats. Today, I
have closet devoted to such head coverings.
Last week, when I was having a trim, I told the barber to go ahead and
cut the three curly hairs that still grew on the top of my scalp. I am afraid I will look like Jessie Ventura
or whatever that wrestling guy who was in politics in Wisconsin or was it
Minnesota. Do you know whatever happened
to him, anyway? I know, I’m trying to
change the subject!
 |
| this is likely the only shot you'll see without a hat |
I think men with no hair are sexy! My friend Ronnie used to wear an expensive hair piece, but finally stopped. He whipped off his baseball cap to show me the new look a few summers ago and he looked so good like that. So no worries - and you'll feel cooler, too, my friend.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a good spot for tattoo!
ReplyDeleteHair or not, it's all good my friend...
We are pretty much polar opposites on the hair front, my friend. But that don't mean we can't share a beer. :)
ReplyDeleteSurrender comes with implications.
ReplyDeleteDon't you think submit would be more true to the situation since this battle was one you were never going to win. :-D
Call it a nod to the tonsure.
He's still floating about, between Minnesota (his home state!) and Mexico....he is quite the powerful and wise man still! Yep, I like him, voted for him and would again! He really did care about our state whether some believed it or not! As for your hair...now there's just more bare-naked head to love! Right!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteSage: I'm speechless, but wish you well! :)
ReplyDeleteIn my 20s and 30s I never thought much of the appearance of bald or balding men. In more recent decades I know how attractive that can be. Hats off to you, J. ;)
ReplyDeleteAlthough my battleground is still much closer to the forehead, I still have a 'stripe' that extends out in front of the rest of the line. That stripe is getting thinner and thinner so one day I am going to have to make the call that you just made.
ReplyDeleteDown here, they call them solar sex domes. The more dome... well the better...
I'll just leave it at that.
Hair is a vanity. You will see yourself better without it.
ReplyDeleteLet us remember and pay our respects to those final hairs, for they were the remnants of a once proud follicular civilization.
ReplyDeleteAnd I say you may as well go ahead and go all the way! Best move I ever made. Actually, it may be the only good move I've made, but that's neither here nor there.
Bah! I live with this every day. Us wives should write a companion piece about the downfalls of living with a bald man (and yes, there is at least one big negative that no one would think about until they were bald or lived with one). :-)
ReplyDeleteit's only hair))) i say that gently because until we know it, it hurts in its way and so i add, it's only body, and oh how our bodies degrade.
ReplyDeletebet you look good with our without cap.
love that body)))
xo
erin