Having a Ball Breaking the Chain

On a lighter note

Gawd, I just read my last post and let me say, I was NOT a cheerful camper.

But moods are like the weather, they change.

Not the weather in So. Cal. lately, though. Hot, hotter and wet-the-dogs-down hot. Poor things, digging under the bushes behind the pool, trying to find a patch of muddy dirt that the sun has NOT turned to stone. We put ice in their water bucket and hose them down a couple of times a day. Best we can do for them.

I play the lock and dash game, myself. Step out of the air-conditioned house, lock the door and dash to the car. Crank the AC in the car until I reach my destination, then lock the car and dash into the store. Head home, lock the car and dash back into the house. I'm so "at one" with my surroundings.

Back in my youth (picture the Flintstones and Bedrock) no amount of "weather" bothered me. I wore little or no makeup and my hair was all natural so what was there to be bothered? Heat and humidity? No problem, just a bit of a sheen to my natural skin. Rain? Wet clingy clothes and raindrops on the eyelashes were sexy. Wind? Hair billowing around, shiny and wavy... what's not to like?

Now, in addition to seeking out air conditioning with no less devotion than the knights of the crusades brought to the search for the holy grail, I have umbrellas stashed at work, in home and auto, and woe be unto those who may attempt to open a car window in my presence. I've become high maintenance. I swear I never planned it. I remember being able to sleep in my car at a sky-diving meet and wash my face and hair in a gas-station bathroom sink and be ready for my day. What the hell happened?

It's really not my fault. I would MUCH prefer to go out "au natural." It's just that those damned villagers with their torches and pitchforks got annoying. When mothers grab their shrieking little children and drag them from your sight a couple of times, it makes an impression.

So you start with a little makeup. And you trim your hair into a tamable do. And then there's a bit more makeup. It gets to be a habit. A routine. A necessity. And your love affair with weather ends. Now heat and humidity melt your foundation, rain gives you raccoon eyes and wind turns your coif into a white-chick afro.

It takes so much work to be a natural beauty these days.

posted by Sheryl @ 8:00 AM