Monday, February 23, 2009

It Started with One

***Notice: I spell "grey" with an "e" because I think it looks prettier. Sorry, if it annoys you."
I found the first one at our book discussion of "Middlemarch." I noticed something and I blurted out incredulously "Is that a grey hair?" The conclusions were mixed but we opted for "It is just a shiny blonde hair." Well, after inspections this evening there is more than one of those sparkly blonde hairs and a definite grey hair right in my bangs.
It is official, I have grey hair.
I blame Obama of course, because I found the first hair the week after the election during which I endured enormous stress and anxiety. The stimulus package sealed the deal and the shiny blonde hairs went straight to grey. I don't worry about my children nearly as much as I worry about my country.

The first grey hair brings up many questions. Should I start dying my hair again, what color? For how long? I figure I can dye my hair for the next 20 years at least before anyone becomes suspicious. what will I do when I am old and grey? Will I do the old lady crop? Chances are I will not have silvery white hair, I am going the way of the Salt and Pepper. So this fabulous style is out.
It also raises the growing old gracefully topic. I used to be all for the idea and now at the tender age of 30 I fell like growing old gracefully is a tough row to hoe and I might like to take an easier path.

I found this poem ...
My First Gray Hair
Mary Alice Walton

One day amid brown tresses there gleamed a silvery thread,
Life pages, past and present I wonderingly then read.
I saw a blithsome maiden, a child serenely fair,
A woman heavey laden now lifts her first gray hair.

CHORUS.

O silvery strand, thou soft kiss of time,
The beauties of youth are now past, are now past.
For evening of life are pleasures unknown,
Tis love, only love, that will last, that will last.

Good to know I am now a "woman heavy laden," that "the beauties of youth are now past...."

I need to find some chocolate and dig out my box of henna.

4 comments:

Jenni said...

I went looking for a picture to show why I think dying is a scary habit, and ended up finding a whole slew of great things.
"my white roots make me look bald on top" http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2038/2422491145_968b6dfe92.jpg
"did you notice my roots?"
http://constantstateofflux.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/hair-before-4.jpg

and here is a totally inspiring story (full of pictures) of a lady who decided to stop dying and see how long it took to get to all natural hair again. (It was a year and a half). http://everydaygoddess.typepad.com/everyday_goddess/shades_of_gray/ she links several other neat articles and stuff too.

Henna is easier on hair than box dyes obviously, but when I start having more than just a couple greys I'll be quitting it too. My MIL is in her 60s with perfect blond hair...nobody in their 60s has blond hair, you know? But she's dyed for so long that she'll probably keep it up till she dies. Either that or one day she'll stop and she'll seem to age 20 years overnight. No thank you, I'd rather take my aging slowly and as it comes. My DH is quite grey (at 32) and that's just fine with me.
Geeze, you've set me off now, I need to go write a whole post. LOL!

Afton said...

Is that grey vixen Elizabeth Hurley? Who ever it is makes going grey seem not so scary.

By the way, as long as you can easily pluck, there is no need for hair color. And if you are worried that if you pluck one grey hair 7 more will grow in, I'd have a luxurious thick head of grey hair by now.

And you have thick and luxurious hair, so I think pulling out the occasional grey will be ok.

grandmawhitehouse said...

Plucking sounds good. Henna might be okay for awhile, but not dye. I like my grey's but you know I have been blessed and now I think I deserve a few.

Anonymous said...

I prefer to spell grey with an e as well. It's more dignified. :)

I do dye my hair but sometimes I go a long time between dye jobs and then I'll pluck hairs. And the last time I dyed my hair, I noticed that the grey hairs just got really annoyingly bright red while the rest of the hair was a nice medium reddish brown, so I had to pluck them anyway! LOL