patchymcgoo
I had been thinking about shaving my head for quite some time. Over the last few years, my long locks had done a decent job covering up the various patchy bald spots on my head.
I didn’t even notice when you came in, the barber would say on the rare occasion I actually got a trim. Long hair suits you.
She didn’t say that the last time I went in.
I really knew the gig was up over Christmas when a white flash emanating from the back of my head nearly blinded my own mother. I was in their backyard with my dad, marveling at the exact spot this was taken:
San Rafael ????????continue to provide mutual aid to Sonoma County. Last night they were able to hold a ???? line on Trail Ridge Ct in Oakmont. pic.twitter.com/EenaazGpZr
— San Rafael Police (@SanRafaelPolice) October 11, 2017
I must have turned at just the right angle for the sun (which was hidden behind heavy cloud cover, mind you) to reflect a piercing light towards my mom.
Luckily she was standing at a safe distance.
Last weekend, I reasoned it was time.
It’s not like I was going into unchartered territory here. I used to rock a shaved head towards the end of our time in Vermont. Kelli and I had been preparing for a northeast trip through Quebec and Maine when we broke out the clippers and went to town. At 32, I finally saw the light of having short-short hair.
Why didn’t I do this sooner?
One of my favorite pics of me and Kelli shortly after my first buzzcut. Taken on Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
This time around, the grande shaving would be different: there would be no going back. I knew that the bald patches would be uncoverupable once the ‘do went bye-bye.
Truth be told, it’s not like I actually enjoyed having long hair. In public I usually covered it up with a hat (I do love me a fancy hat … have I mentioned that?) or pulled it back in a pony tail. Sidenote: where the hell do all the hair ties GO?
At home there were long dark strands EVERYWHERE. When you’re trying to cover up alopecia with long hair, the dust bunnies churned up by a weekly Swiffer sweep are epic. Prehistoric, even. And you better have an industrial grade shower drain cover.
So after encouragement from Kelli and my parents, we dusted off the ol’ clippers.
Why didn’t I do this sooner?
