My Nasty New Hair Stylist Has Given Me a Cool New Look. Sheltering at Home Week 15

my nasty new hair stylist older-woman-wild-hair — My hair is getting really long — 4-plus inches now — and kinda sexy, thanks to my nasty new hair stylist, COVID-19.

Sheltering at Home. Friday, June 26, 2020, Week 15

I couldn’t have done it without them. First, the Epstein-Barr virus back in 2017. And now the COVID-19 virus in 2020.

Thanks to these two truly nasty microbes, I’m looking good these days. That dull, brown, chemical-treated hair I’d been living with for decades is gone because of an extended bout with mono caused by the Epstein-Barr virus.

my nasty new hair stylist made my hair grow long. here my husband measures it — In the interest of accuracy, I asked Jon to measure the length of my hair. Four inches on top, 4 1/2 in back. *Photos by Barbara Newhall*

Mono left me too tired to spend all those hours at the hairdresser getting my hair dyed wannabe-young-brown, followed by highlighting to make the brown appear less fake.

Naturally, my roots grew out, and within a couple of months I went from dead brown to sparkling white. Thank you Epstein-Barr.

And now, due to my latest meet-up with a virus — COVID-19, which so far I’ve successfully kept at the prescribed distance of six feet — I have experienced the joys and challenges of hair that is full, full, full.

my nasty new hair stylist means hair-is-growing — Mid-May my hair was 3 1/2 inches long and growing.

Take a look. My hair is now super long — four-plus inches. Up from 3 1/2 inches a month ago.

It’s springy. It sticks out. It’s kinda wild. Some would say I look like Albert Einstein. Or Phyllis Diller. Or, if I keep this up for a few more inches, Beulah Witch.

my nasty new hair stylist haircut at 5 weeks — This photo dates to March 31 of this year. It had been five weeks since my last haircut, and normally I’d have been heading back to the hairdresser within a week.

Personally, I think I now most resemble Dolly Parton. Wild, glamorous, out of control. Fun. And — what the heck — sexy.

Not so long ago my look was Judy Dench meets Adam Levine. Short, crisp and to the point. But thanks to COVID-19, I’ve gone all fluffy and haphazard.

For the time being, it’s my choice.

Gino, my regular hairdresser called the other day. He’s a nice guy. Not at all nasty. Gino is the one who gave me the haircut you are seeing here, which has held its shape so miraculously all the way from Feb. 22.

He called to say he’s back in business. He’s working solo, with only his wife to help sanitize the salon between customers. Everyone else on his staff is unemployed or retired.

Did I want to come in for a haircut wearing a mask? I’d have to wash my hair at home, of course, but he could wet it down and cut it, no problem.

I said no. No, thanks. I’m going to wait and see where my nasty new hair stylist takes my look next.

As COVID-19 has its way with the human race, my thoughts turn to “Nature — We Love It, But Does It Give a Darn About Us?” Also, “In My Rain-Battered Garden, Nothing Is Forever.”