I know I shouldn’t go to bed with damp hair, but honestly, at that time of night who wants to faff around with a hairdryer? I had been determined to get a shower after work, one way or the other, dreaming of luxuriant, scented steam. As usual, though, it turned out to be ‘the other’ as I stomped into the bathroom late at night, while the computer rebooted itself for the n’th time and set the water running. A quick scrub and with hair still dripping, I was back at my desk before the PC had chance to cough and splutter again.
I rolled into bed an hour or so later, barely even acknowledging the damp locks I had simply brushed back and left to dry. The regrets manifested this morning as I looked in the mirror at the small haystack of curls that has been christened the ‘thirty bullock bush’ in deference to its capacity for sheltering a small bovine herd beneath its madness.
I have been growing my hair for a while. I liked it short; practical, but quite limiting, but I sort of like it long too. Once upon a time it was very long, until one of my sons’ girlfriends offered to trim it, failing to take into account the nature of curls. Especially wet ones. She herself had lovely straight hair… but curls have a mind of their own and i ended up very short. Then there was the time I was simply so down I couldn’t be bothered and cut the lot with the meat shears. Surprisingly, it turned out rather well and I kept it short after that for years.
That morning, however, I looked in the mirror with narrowed eyes. No time to do anything with it. I scraped it back, wondering if there was enough for a pony tail yet? Well, maybe a very small pony, sort of Shetland sized… Okay, more your eohippus really. Nevertheless, an elastic band being found in the bottom of the junk drawer produced a tidy result with a respectably flared ponytail.
By the time I’d made it to my son’s, the ponytail was more of a short ringlet, progressing rapidly through varying degrees of tightness to pig tail. Not a glossy bunch of shiny locks swinging in the sunshine, more your single tight curl… as in an actual pig’s tail. By the time I got home, it resembled nothing so much as a walnut stuck on the back of my head. I dragged the elastic off and let it go… you wouldn’t believe how wild it can look with no encouragement at all.
Which got me thinking…
I remember reading that ‘disorder is the child of authority and compulsion’ and I had, with some authority, compelled my hair to behave before going out that morning. The result was practical but not pretty and said hair had curled itself into a tightly wound ball that resembled neither its natural state nor the shape I had hoped for.
The pony tail had served a purpose, enforcing sobriety on the unruly locks, which, the moment they were released from bondage, simply went completely wild as if to protest their elasticated incarceration. And yet, this wildness is not how it should be either… left to its own devices without the intervention of hot air, tongs or the premature application of pillows, my hair dries itself neatly into something I would have paid good money for in the seventies. Its natural state is both more restrained and softer than anything I try and enforce, even though it may not conform to prevailing fashions.
Not unlike most people really.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
I keep mine long these days, though there are times when I’m tempted to have to cut. Then I remember the faff it is to keep it tidy as it develops a mind of it own. I liked it short when I had my perms though as it was a definite wash and go with no fuss at all, and I could just leave it to dry naturally. I had a good hairdresser then and she knew exactly how to cut my hair to get the best results.
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Mine does its own thing, long or short 🙂
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Love the pics you chose🤣
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Thank you…all taken over the past few years 🙂
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I love this, Sue. I could see all the taming efforts so well, and the animal pictures are a hilarious accompaniment, illustrating the point perfectly. I agree, being left to its natural devices is best, and I love the analogy with people. I looked like that penguin the other day. 😉
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The penguin is better coiffed than me most days 😉
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LOl! I recognise myself in him too! 😉
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😀
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This made me laugh. Even though my hair is short and therefore easy to ‘manage’ it has recently decided it’s no longer going to conform.The parting, which has been in the same place for years has decided to move and a clump of hair on the left has decided it wants to be on the right and if not allowed to go there insists on sticking straight up like a sad punk. My hairdresser says it’s my age.
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If mine gets any more unruly, it may need a hedge-trimmer 😉
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🙂 🙂 My problem is the opposite – straight flat hair that sticks out in all directions if I go to bed with damp hair.
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Mine isn’t even that predictable 😉
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I envy my daughter’s hair (curly) and she envies mine (straight). Neither looks good when slept on wet though…(k)
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I doubt I would have the patience for straight hair, I have to say.
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I always pull mine back in a ponytail. No patience to braid it anymore.
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Mine doesn’t grow long enough for either really. I just let it fly 🙂
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I have crazy-curly hair too. Mind of it’s own? Absolutely! Nicely done, Sue. Gave me a chuckle. 🙂
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You will relate then, Penny 😉
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Pingback: Bad hair day… from the archives — Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo | Penny Wilson Writes
Haha, Sue, this is so funny. Straight hair isn’t a barrel of laughs either.
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I can imagine 🙂
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I have had so many bad hair days that ultimately I have turned to getting keratin treatment. It lasts 6-8 months and absolutely no hassle for the first 5 months.
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I can’t recall the last visit to a hairdresser. That may be the problem here 😉
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It would seem so! 😉
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🙂
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👍
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I have given up arguing with my hair, not much point really for it will always get its own back!
I just avoid mirrors…
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The days are long gone when I looked in a mirror before going out 😉
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Me too…
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Great series of photos, Sue. Anyone who can take a series of photos and turn them into a flow of words is an artist I enjoy reading immensely ~ and this has such a perfect dose of humor on this late morning to put me in a good mood for the rest of the day 🙂 Cheers to a great day and week.
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Thanks, Randall. I’m glad it raised a smile 🙂
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Pingback: Bad hair day… from the archives — Sue Vincent’s Daily Echo – yazım'yazgısı (typography)
Thank you 🙂
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I sympathise – my hair and I have been at loggerheads throughout my life. I suspect there are goblin hairdressers who sneak in at night and give me a makeover of their own choosing.
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They’d need a sense of humour to do mine these days 😉
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Lol Sue. I think we can all relate to at least one baddddd haircut. 🙂 I enjoyed the photos but was so anticipating one with you and a bad haircut, lol. ❤
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I don’t do haircuts these days 😉
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Lol 🙂
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😉
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Some days you just have to let it get wild!
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It did 😉
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