HAT HAIR
4 April 2002
With my new identification as a jock, I'm discovering that I'm developing problems I
never dreamed of before.
Like hat hair.
I actually have pretty good hair. It's one of my best features, in fact. Once
"Shirley Temple curly," as I've grown older, I no longer have tight ringlets,
but have enough wave and curl and body that I don't have to do anything with it--just wash
it, let it dry, and voilą: instant "hair." People hate me. I've never dyed it
or permed it. I never learned how to use a blow dryer, because most times I don't have to.
I will admit that there are better hair days than others. The hair has a mind of its
own (which is only natural, since it's so close to the brain — directly plugged in,
in fact). And on some days it decides to look pretty darn good and on other days it's
"Oh lord--well, at least it's curly."
This morning was a good hair day.
I looked kinda cute. Perky. With the loss of one of my chins (only a few more to go),
the face was thinner and the hair curled nicely around my face and had a bit of a
"poof" to the top that was just perfect.
Then I rode my bike to the club.
When I ride my bike, being a good, responsible bike-rider, I wear my shiny new Darth
Vader helmet.
After the ride to the club, an hour's sweaty workout, and the ride back home again,
when I removed the helmet, there it was: hat hair.
Gone was "perky." Gone was the poof. Gone was the hair curling nicely around
my face. Instead it was flat in places that it shouldn't be flat. It stuck out in places
where it shouldn't stick out. This was not something you wanted to take out into polite
society.
So that leaves me on the horns of a dilemma. It's 2 miles to work. It's not an easy
ride, as it involves a hill, which I doubt I'll be able to manage yet, but still it's
definitely do-able. But what happens when I get to the office with hat hair?
Then there's the earring problem. I have these lovely opal earrings that are kind of slightly dangly. Every time I put on my helmet, I worry that I'm going to somehow knock them off and I'll lose one, which would be devastating, since I love them so much. When I go on an official "ride" (both times), I take them off, but do I take them off just to ride up to the club?
I suppose the shoe problem is easily solved. I don't want to bike in work shoes, but I
can easily pack work shoes in my cool backpack, or leave them at the office. Kinda like
those high fashion female execs wandering around the financial district in San Francisco
with their Gucci outfits and Adidas.
There's the glove problem. Yes, I have cool new biking gloves, but what happens when it
gets hot? Triple digit temps will be here before you know it. I'm hoping that I will be in
the biking mode by then and the heat will not stop me from biking, but I sure can't see
pulling on biking gloves over sweaty hands.
There's no sun visor on a bike and when I ride home from the club, the rising sun
shines in my eyes--not a comfortable thing for someone who is not yet comfortable sharing
a street with automobiles. I'm also not comfortable enough yet to cut down my ability
to see clearly by wearing sunglasses. (This, of course, will become a moot point in a week
when Daylight Savings goes into effect and it's dark again when I go to the club.)
Despite these thorny issues, biking is coming along. This morning for the first time, I
actually rode down the driveway of our house and into the street. While this may sound
pretty silly to even talk about, it was a big deal for me. I also rode to the club via the
main streets instead of the back streets, which was also a big deal. I'm getting the hang
of the rear view mirror, which helps a LOT (and which I appreciate very much now, despite
the fact that Olivia had to talk me into getting it in the first place!).
I can now lock the bike without feeling like an idiot trying to figure out a
complicated math problem. This is a great point gained.
I ride the bike to the club each morning, which adds that much more onto my workout,
each way. It feels disgustingly healthy. It's also nice getting out in the early morning
air like that. Wakes up all the brain cells that didn't wake up when I started working at
4 or 5.
And the big news for this week is that the IRS is going to allow weight loss expenses
to be tax deductible. It will help justify all these billions of dollars I'm pouring into
Weight Watchers when tax time rolls around next year.
Life on the "lifestyle change" plane is going well.
Now if only I can figure out hat hair.
