Hair: A love/hate story from one perspective

 

That's me, after a recent appointment at the
salon in Eldridge, Iowa

Oh, give me a head with hair

Long, beautiful hair

Shining, gleaming, streaming

Flaxen, waxen

Now won't you gimme it down to there? (hair)

Shoulder length or longer (hair)

Here, baby, there, mama

Everywhere, daddy, daddy

Hair (hair, hair, hair, hair, hair)

Grow it, show it

Long as I can grow it

My hair ...

Songwriters: Gerome Ragni / James Rado / Galt Mac Dermot

    

      

    I scoop up my own hair every single day. I do appreciate this thick, brown and healthy hair, but my goodness, what a mess it makes!

    I bought a special broom that grabs hair, and all sorts of devices to clean up said hair. I buy Swiffer sheets on a regular basis and use them.

    I don't mean to sound negative. It's a blessing to have a head of hair, but also a responsibility. 

    No one wants to have hair in their food, for example!

    I'm a bit vain so at 66 years old, I obviously have some grey hair. But I cover it up as best I can with regular visits to a talented stylist (Amy Bowe, of the Smiles salon in Eldridge, Iowa). Amy took the picture in this blog and she's a gem.

    Both my parents had good-looking hair, at least when they were healthy. 

    We always thought our mom, Barbara, looked a little like Jackie Kennedy. My dad's hair was curly and blondish, just like that of my big sister, Cathleen. Two other sisters, Brigid and Mary Barbara, have hair the color of mine. Mary B., as we call her, has gone grey and looks beautiful.

    I looked up some fun facts about hair, and here they are, courtesy of the Mane n' Tail: 

    1. An average person has 100,000 to 150,000 strands of hair.

    2. Many people shed 50-150 strands of hair a day. (I bet I shed more than that!)

    3. Hair is the second fastest tissue to grow in a human body, aside from bone marrow.

    4. A healthy strand of hair can stretch 30 percent when wet. (Remember Ariel, the Little Mermaid?)

    5. A new hair begins to grow as soon as it is pulled from its follicle.

    6. At different times, 90 percent of hair is growing while 10 percent is at rest.

    7. A single hair has a lifespan of about five years.

    8. A strand of hair is stronger than a strand of copper wire.

    9. When a person is cold or scared, goosebumps happen when the muscle for each hair strand contracts.

    10. Hair is mostly made up of keratin, which is also the main substance in a horse's mane, hooves and tail!