I know some folks think we should be
content with the hair colour God gave us, but that ship sailed years ago. When
I first started experimenting with my mousy hair in Grade Ten, my dad said, “If
God wanted you to have blond hair, you’d have been born with it.”
To that I replied, “If God wanted me to
go around naked, I’d have been born that way.”
I was such a treat to raise.
Having red hair has been on my bucket list for years. After all, so many
terrific redheads have graced our world. If you want to be known for comedy,
red hair is a splendid idea. As a kid, I faithfully watched Red Skelton on a
black and white TV. If his name hadn’t been “Red,” I’d have never known the source
of his talent.
And who’s funnier than Lucille Ball or
Carol Burnette or Conan O’Brien?
Important people in history who had red
hair include Esau and King David from the Bible, Eric the Red, Napoleon
Bonaparte, and Queen Elizabeth I of England. And speaking of royals, what about
Prince Harry? Did you know Mark Twain,
Sir Winston Churchill, and Vladimir Lenin all sported red hair?
In the music world, who could forget Geri Halliwell (a.k.a. Ginger Spice), Bernadette
Peters, and Willie Nelson? Or one of my favorite artists, Vincent Van Gogh?
The list of
red-headed movie stars is inexhaustible, including Lindsay Lohan, Kate Winslet,
and Nicole Kidman.
In sports, we
have Rusty Staub, Brian Campbell, and Heather Moyse. I had to Google those
because … well… sports, shmorts.
Let’s not
forget our favorite fictional characters like Little Orphan Annie and Charlie
Brown’s little red-haired girl and Anne of Green Gables (“Red hair is my
lifelong sorrow.”)
There’s
something mysteriously attractive about a red-haired woman, isn’t there? Lucille
Ball said, “Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall
madly in love with a gorgeous redhead.”
My reason for
wanting red hair is not to be famous or to have some man fall in love with me, madly
or otherwise. I just want to try it. Will it bring out the green flecks in my
eyes which romance novelists always describe but which I’ve never actually seen
on anyone, let alone myself? Will my personality change? Will I suddenly
develop a quick temper? Will people call me “Carrots” or “Ginger” or “Woody
Woodpecker?” Will I become as smart as my red-haired friend Gayle or as
beautiful as her daughters Alison and Veronica, or as witty as my writing
buddy, Michael? Will I need to start avoiding the sun?
I've been chicken to try it, but time is marching on. I knew if I waited too much
longer, I might end up looking like Endora, the meddling mother-in-law from Bewitched.
But wait.
There’s a play coming up. Elaine Harper, the character I portray, does not
necessarily have red hair, but she certainly could. And if I dyed my hair red
and it looked ridiculous, I could say “it’s just for a play.”
Right?
And besides,
it’s only hair.
Right?
 | |
| Did it! |
"Fantastic!" said her witty friend, Michael.
ReplyDeleteI like it!
DeleteSo I wasn't the only kid to come up with, "If God had meant for me to wear clothes, why wasn't I born fully clothed?" My dad and most of his siblings had gorgeous curly auburn hair with coppery highlights.Past tense, because they all went gray in their thirties. Apparently red fades faster than other colours. My dad once asked why I was colouring my hair red. I told him it was genetic. He had red hair - why shouldn't I. And now, I have purple hair. The last time I spent with my dad, he was in that odd place between worlds. At one point, he was laughing, and I asked him what was so funny. He pointed at my hair. So, my having purple hair made my dad laugh on his way to heaven. I take that to mean that God must not object to hair dye.
ReplyDeleteI really like your new hair colour, Terrie. It looks like you got your face coloured as well, so it looks very natural on you, Also, now you look less like Shanon.