Sometimes I look at my dreadlocks and think how funny they are. There are red ones, purple ones, copper, orange, and brown ones. I feel like I've just stepped unto a set of Sesame Street and I'm one of the furry little muppets with fuzzy antennas of color flopping here and there singing about the word "alien," while dancing with a ruler.
Sometimes my little fuzzy alien antennas don't smell so good, as I wash them only once a month. But they have a very rich, musky smell that is actually rather enjoyable. Not sure how they conduct this odor, but it's hardly offensive, really. They've actaully recieved comlipents on their smell, be-lieve it or not. And I don't think the people were just saying it to be polite, really. And I think compliments promote the little aliens' fragrance-conducting activity, really.
I try and compliment them at least five times a day. Once in upon waking, because they've been silent all night long and tend to get a little lonely by the time the morning comes along. Once at breakfast, because it's my favorite meal and I tend to compliment everything at that time. Once when I'm pulling my dreads back in a bob to ready myself for a long day in a dirty pottery studio, because they are sooo easy to put back without the help of any kind of hair pins or clips. And twice at night to prepare them for the long silence of sleep.
By this point in reading this, you probably think I'm obsessed with my dreads, but not really too much. I just want these little alien tangles of hair to know just how thankful I am for their continued support of strange things, fuzzy, colored, messy, frangrant, stinky or just simply strange. My hats off to you! (Even though I can't really fit hats on my head anyways these days.)
2 comments:
My Dear Little Aliens,
I love you! I love you because you are wild and spontaneous...you never plan on where you will go, who you will touch, who will touch you... I love you because you bring out the wild beauty of your owner, Miss Aimee Herring, who is a creature of poetry, beauty, movement, passion. So, fly free, or rest back in a bob, you are appreciated and loved by many!
Aimee!
I just came back to read more and I love this post, especially the part about the smell of your dreads. I was thinking this morning as I was trying to decide if I really wanted to take a shower before church that most of my favorite memories come to mind with all the scents of nature: beloved friends in Africa and Nicaragua, children being born, the smell of being outside and getting dirty playing and working in the garden. Why do most people want to cover all these amazing scents up? I know we must clean our selves I just don't like how much every one thinks we should. So thank you for have little Aliens on your head and for letting them have their own wonderful sent! ( I know you must think I am a strange person coming and commenting like this, I am just so excited to hear someone say things that are so close to my heart!)
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