That's Me?

I have to admit, I had some bizarre hair styles when I was in my teens.

I guess that as a young kid, I was trying to figure myself out and get comfortable with a style that defined who I wanted to be. It probably wasn't until my late 30s or my early 40s that I was truly comfortable with the 'real' me. Now, in my late 50s, I figure that I am who I am: that's not to say that I don't have an open mind for ideas and opinions, but I really don't care to create any new version of myself.

I really don't care much about my appearance, these day: the inside me is more important. Sure, I want to be clean and well-groomed, but I essentially leave my hair alone until it gets long enough that it starts sticking in my ears, and then I get it cut short enough that I don't need to worry about brushing it.

That's how little I care about my hair.

So when I was looking through a photo folder with pictures of me over the decades, I was almost taken aback by a couple of high-school photos. In one, I barely recognized myself; in another, I didn't recognize myself at all.

And maybe, these photos have something to do with why I no longer like plaid.

The first photo (on the left) was taken in 1980. I was 15 and in Grade 9. The other photo was taken the next year. Wow, that hair.

The afro grew until it reached my shoulders. At the end of grade 10, when I was looking through my yearbook, I came across a photo of our high-school band. I was looking for myself, in the back row, among the other trumpet players.

I saw someone I didn't recognize. "Who's that?" I asked a friend who was looking through the yearbook with me. I was pointing to someone who's face was a bit obscured, who had a massive head of long, curly hair. "And why is she wearing my t-shirt?"

It was unmistakably my Led Zeppelin shirt with the artwork from the inside of their fourth album, with an old man, standing on a mountain, holding a lantern and a staff, looking down at a walled town, below.

"That's you," my friend said.

"That's me?"

That summer, I had my hair cut short. I haven't had long hair since.

Happy Thursday!