*sigh* I have always loved my my hair. With a very few exceptions, I have worn it long since the last time my mother forced me to cut it when I was eleven...
(I cut it once in high school after it was badly damaged by a chemical spill. It was cut again when I was in my early 20s by a duplicitous acquaintance, and then in December 2001, I cropped it back to my ears in celebration of starting a new life.
Life has been hard on my poor hair lately, though.
This photo was taken last night -- I love the colour, but I am so sad to see it looking so very thin. My insurance company made me change to a generic thyroid replacement hormone, and in the following year, I lost about half of my hair. I eventually switched back at my own expense -- but not until I started to develop bald patches. It's going to take years to recover.
But that was only one shock my hair has suffered lately...when we moved into our new home, I didn't realize that our new city water was highly chlorinated. Ann Arbor, where I have lived for the last 20 years, doesn't use chlorine. It took us six months to figure out that we needed to filter the shower -- and in that six months
before that, my poor hair turned to straw.Sad. It was once my crowning feature. It may be again one day, but some days looking at its current state makes me so sad.
*I* still like your hair!
ReplyDelete-Valerie
Thanks, Valerie! You're soooo sweet!
ReplyDeleteMisti, Ann Arbor used to chlorinate its water. Now, I haven't lived or worked there for 18 years, but the chlorination used to be so bad where I worked that the coffee even tasted of chlorine. Depending on where you lived, though, you might get less chlorine, as it seemed to dissipate the further you got away from the treatment plant.
ReplyDeleteWhen you lived off of Michigan Ave,though, I believe you were either in Pittsfield Township or Ypsilanti Township - both of which get their water from the Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority, the same as where you are now. So, I don't understand why your hair would suffer from the move.
I sympathize about the thyroid adjustments. Been there, done that. It's one of the main reasons I cut my formerly waist-length hair.
Hey, Kate,
ReplyDeleteI wasn't paying attention when they made the change, but I do know that when I got the Ann Arbor water report, they had something else rather than chlorine these last several years.
(I got a water report from Ann Arbor when I lived in the apartment off Michigan Ave, too, so I am pretty sure they were using Ann Arbor water. The switch in utilities probably happens near there somewhere, though.)
But here, we can always tell when it's time to change the filter because the house smells like a public pool after anyone takes a shower. Then again, we may be right near the treatment plant -- there are certainly a LOT of YCUA signs in the neighborhood.
Your hair is beautiful to me, too, Misti! And your blog is wonderful! I just found it, and I will be reading it without fail. Is that a picture of your new home? How BEAUTIFUL! I hope I can visit soon.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember turning to you for help when my hair began to fall out due to stress. It's so heartbreaking. In time, I came to believe that Goddess simply felt that there was much, much more in my life that I needed to look after, and so she took some of my hair away to make that point, since I obviously wasn't "getting it"!
I've worried much less about my hair, especially since my Steve loves it the way it is, and it's kinda "growing on me" too...pardon the PUN!