Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

2nd Kings 2:23 & 24

From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

I have been growing my hair out. On my head, not just my ears. At almost 50 years of age, my hair grows profusely out of both places. Some odd mix of retained youth and encroaching middle age. Even as of a couple of days ago, I was intent to become hippie-like  and let the locks grow on and on. I was getting Shaggy and all I needed was Scooby-Doo. I was thinking Rasta, trying to look more spiritual and non-conformist. Guru-like. Or at least George Harrison.

Caused me to reflect on those men in the Bible who had long hair. Absalom, whose locks got caught in a tree branch leading to his death by the sword and Samson whose strength grew the longer his hair got. And Elisha, who was bald, and called down the vengeance of God via two she-bears on 42 boys who were making fun of his cue ball. Don't mess with the Lord's anointed I suppose. One of those tough Bible verses that make it abundantly clear that God can be wrathful. Take the good with the bad. The Cross was wrathful.
 
Alas, having longer hair started to feel like wearing a wet stringy mop, without the handle, on my head. When I worked out, running in particular but also when  lifting weights to some extent, my long hair would get sweaty and then damp when cooling down after the exercise ended. For me, that is like ordering a Cold. I posit that the dampness on the outside and the internal raising of the body temps throws my immune system into a shock of sorts. Working out does put the body under stress and stress can make the body less able to fight off viruses and bacteria. Although I love the winter, getting sick from Colds is about the only reason I would live in an infernal place like Florida.

I heard a traditional doctor on the radio pooh-poohing head coldness causing Colds and he dismissed the wearing of hats. Of course colds are caused by a virus yet I think it quite plausible that whether the body can fight off diseases or not is quite dependent on its ability to marshal resources to the battle and if the body is fighting to keep warm and fight off invaders at the same time, that is a two-front battle. I don't trust that Dr.'s wisdom. Look at how sick Americans are despite how much we spend on health care. Something ain't working. We have lost common sense despite our sophistication.   

So, driving home from work I felt the compulsion to stop by my barber who has not seen me for almost two month. He seemed to enjoy mowing down the locks. He is a traditional guy with Fox News on in the shop. He only charges $ 11.00 and is diligent about his craft. He especially seems to relish the trimming of the eyebrows. No cursing allowed, he runs his shop with discipline. It is kind of like stepping back in time when men didn't talk much, worked hard, and and now quietly wonder how the world has become so screwed up. I really like the man. People who dismiss these men as reactionary dinosaurs should mourn their passing. Don't appreciate them maybe until they are gone and we are left with clown-men who just want to have a good time at someone else's expense, dodge work, and who act like thugs, bullies, or at least spoiled brats.

After the cut, and grabbing my favorite flavored Tootsie Roll Pop out of his jar, the grape of course, I went for a four mile run. Twilight around the lake was particularly splendid with the pink and violet hues of the sky reflecting off the water, joining the heavens and the earth.

Coming home, I wiped my head clean of sweat a couple of times, took a shower, and was good to go.