Wild Hair: My Year Without a Haircut

El corte de pelo después de un año

When I hit 40 years old in December 2009 I got a wild hair.  Time for a pony tail, I thought. Half joking, I decided to let my hair grow indefinitely without grooming.  I had never really had long hair, for as long as I can remember it’s been short.  Perhaps in the 1970’s I had long hair, didn’t everyone?  But I was too young then to remember so it didn’t count.

So month after month passed and my hair grew longer (½ inch per month, so says the research).  And so did the comments: lots of friendly ribbing at work, funny looks from Paul, even my mother imploring me to “Get a haircut!”

I really noticed it in the summer, it was long enough to blow in my eyes, thus requiring lots of hat wearing.  I started to twist it when sitting idly, by summer’s end it started to annoy.  It was thick, heavy and hot.  And it look longer to wash and dry.

By October 2010, a year after my last cut, it felt like the right time.  I had to do something, it was getting wild and unwieldy; the creature definitely needed some taming.  So I walked into my local clip joint and Michelle took a whack at it.  She was surpised to see me after so long: “Well, at least I know you weren’t cheating on me.”

I never did get a real pony tail, after all that.  But I did get the long hair thing out of my system.  While it’s good to mix things up every now and then, I’m glad to have my now maintenance-free hair short and under control.

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