Why on earth would I bother to write about wearing a scarf?
Because it's actually been quite the experience.
A little history first.
I've always been fascinated by women who wrap their hair/head. Why would anyone cover their hair? How do they do those elaborate wraps?
I've also liked scarves for a very long time, but never really felt the necessity to own a bunch since I would only wear warm ones in the summer. Then, I started getting into wearing them and tying them in different ways around my neck.
When I cut my hair into a pixie cut last August, and the weather started to get cooler, it only seemed natural to start wrapping one around my head. Especially at work since a beanie didn't seem very professional every day I was there. And headbands hurt...
I loved it! I quickly learned that it also helped when my hair was not cooperating and I didn't have time to flatten the back of it before leaving the house. I started experimenting and learned how to do a bun. My life was changed. I realized that I've always wanted really long hair but I don't have the patience for it and being able to manipulate a scarf much like I would my hair is quite satisfying.
Jumping to the "looks", I've certainly noticed a mixed bag of reactions to my style choice. Some people ask me how the heck I make a bun with a scarf and keep it from falling off my head... So far my explanations have sufficed but I am still meaning to make a video instructional. Others have complimented me and said it makes me look quite Romani or Gypsy like. Considering my great-grandpa was "Prussian" and I've always liked gypsy type styles...I'll take it as a compliment, haha.
And then there are those who refrain from saying anything mean but who give me the O.o or the -.- look of distaste. I noticed it early on and it's had me reflecting on cultures who wrap their hair/heads a lot more.
Generally speaking most people think of Muslim women when they think of women who cover their hair. Or Orthodox Jewish women who begin covering their hair after marriage. Lots of African women do as well, and to be honest I'm mostly inspired by their ways.
Don't forget that a lot of Christian women cover their hair, too. Nuns and the Amish (and similar groups) are well known. But, did you know that Catholics are supposed to cover their hair, as well as Protestants, and most other Christian denominations? Yet, it seems like women are often questioned for participating in this practice. The immediate assumption is that they're being oppressed.
In some cases I would agree. No woman should be forced to dress a certain way.
I've also come across a lot of cases where Muslim women argue that they want to wear the hijab, or even the niqab as well. For many it actually makes them less self-conscious because they're not being judged for how they look, but rather what comes out of their mouth. Now, Muslim Women would be an entirely different topic to blog about, so moving on....
Another "group" who wears scarves are women, or men if they're like Sterling Archer...., who have cancer and are undergoing treatment that causes their hair to fall out. But since my bangs are usually sticking out I rarely get looks that equate to, "Is she sick??" It HAS happened though.
SO. I can, after a year of on and off head wrapping attest to the idea that it DOES make me feel more confident. Bad hair days are a thing of the past and my morning routine is drastically shortened.
I don't wear one every day but as I acquire more and more scarfs (Christmas hint!) I'm enjoying it even more. In fact I thought I'd try out a Hijab....Not bad for a first try. ;) I can thank this video for the help. It's quite warm and comfy, and I'm actually really tempted to wear this around just to see how people treat me. People gave me enough interesting looks when it was just thrown around my head like a cowl. Although, I did garner a compliment from an Eastern European woman which was pretty fantastic. :D
I also believe that I've taken to this sort of thing so greatly because I love to change my hair, A LOT. But there's only so much cutting and dying that I can do...and I certainly don't have the patience to grow it out to my butt... Learning various head wraps helps fulfill this need of mine for change.
Conclusion: I have many more reasons for wrapping my head, whether my hair is fully covered or not. The most important one being that it makes me happy. And really, that's all that matters. ... And after doing this blog I'm now more curious as to the history of women covering their hair, aha so I'll be delving into that even more, in my free time...
<--- Hopefully YouTube can help me learn how to crazy wraps like this!
Because it's actually been quite the experience.
A little history first.
I've always been fascinated by women who wrap their hair/head. Why would anyone cover their hair? How do they do those elaborate wraps?
I've also liked scarves for a very long time, but never really felt the necessity to own a bunch since I would only wear warm ones in the summer. Then, I started getting into wearing them and tying them in different ways around my neck.
When I cut my hair into a pixie cut last August, and the weather started to get cooler, it only seemed natural to start wrapping one around my head. Especially at work since a beanie didn't seem very professional every day I was there. And headbands hurt... I loved it! I quickly learned that it also helped when my hair was not cooperating and I didn't have time to flatten the back of it before leaving the house. I started experimenting and learned how to do a bun. My life was changed. I realized that I've always wanted really long hair but I don't have the patience for it and being able to manipulate a scarf much like I would my hair is quite satisfying.
Jumping to the "looks", I've certainly noticed a mixed bag of reactions to my style choice. Some people ask me how the heck I make a bun with a scarf and keep it from falling off my head... So far my explanations have sufficed but I am still meaning to make a video instructional. Others have complimented me and said it makes me look quite Romani or Gypsy like. Considering my great-grandpa was "Prussian" and I've always liked gypsy type styles...I'll take it as a compliment, haha.
And then there are those who refrain from saying anything mean but who give me the O.o or the -.- look of distaste. I noticed it early on and it's had me reflecting on cultures who wrap their hair/heads a lot more.
 | |
| A married Jewish woman wearing a headscarf |
Don't forget that a lot of Christian women cover their hair, too. Nuns and the Amish (and similar groups) are well known. But, did you know that Catholics are supposed to cover their hair, as well as Protestants, and most other Christian denominations? Yet, it seems like women are often questioned for participating in this practice. The immediate assumption is that they're being oppressed.
In some cases I would agree. No woman should be forced to dress a certain way.
I've also come across a lot of cases where Muslim women argue that they want to wear the hijab, or even the niqab as well. For many it actually makes them less self-conscious because they're not being judged for how they look, but rather what comes out of their mouth. Now, Muslim Women would be an entirely different topic to blog about, so moving on....
Another "group" who wears scarves are women, or men if they're like Sterling Archer...., who have cancer and are undergoing treatment that causes their hair to fall out. But since my bangs are usually sticking out I rarely get looks that equate to, "Is she sick??" It HAS happened though.
SO. I can, after a year of on and off head wrapping attest to the idea that it DOES make me feel more confident. Bad hair days are a thing of the past and my morning routine is drastically shortened.
I don't wear one every day but as I acquire more and more scarfs (Christmas hint!) I'm enjoying it even more. In fact I thought I'd try out a Hijab....Not bad for a first try. ;) I can thank this video for the help. It's quite warm and comfy, and I'm actually really tempted to wear this around just to see how people treat me. People gave me enough interesting looks when it was just thrown around my head like a cowl. Although, I did garner a compliment from an Eastern European woman which was pretty fantastic. :D
I also believe that I've taken to this sort of thing so greatly because I love to change my hair, A LOT. But there's only so much cutting and dying that I can do...and I certainly don't have the patience to grow it out to my butt... Learning various head wraps helps fulfill this need of mine for change.
Conclusion: I have many more reasons for wrapping my head, whether my hair is fully covered or not. The most important one being that it makes me happy. And really, that's all that matters. ... And after doing this blog I'm now more curious as to the history of women covering their hair, aha so I'll be delving into that even more, in my free time...
<--- Hopefully YouTube can help me learn how to crazy wraps like this!
A week ago today my boyfriend and I moved back from our original move, back in April, down to the San Luis Valley with another couple.
It was
a huge change with quite a bit of risk involved but to us it was 100% worth the
chance.
Part of the plan was that we would help the other couple
start building on the 5 acres of mountain property they already had. We’d
bought a 10x10 military tent for the purpose so that we would have no bills to
pay, and the other couple already had a 12x12 tent. Ideally we’d be able to get
them something built that they could stay in through the winter but regardless
we knew that we’d have to move down to the valley floor or even in town
to make it through the winter.
When we got to the valley, which we drove down to in a 20ft U-Haul
trailer with our car (a mustang) on a tow dolly, we dropped almost all of our
things (the other couple’s as well) in a storage unit and made our way up the
mountain with the rest of our stuff. We didn’t make it to their property
because there was still a lot of snow on the road from the winter, and in fact
when we stopped to decide if we needed to turn around or not it started snowing
on us… so we unloaded our small tents and set up camp on the side of the road
for the night. I don’t think anyone actually slept… I know we didn’t since we
had our dog, Angel, with us and she is quite the snorer, plus I was in charge
of keeping her warm in my sleeping bag.
So the next day it’s snowed about a foot on us and there was
no other option than unloading what we could and making actual base camp with the
large tents (which we could put the camp stoves in). We ended up camping up
there for 7 ½ weeks. At one point we did move up to their property once the
snow cleared enough.
Cy found work at a large farm down there (each field was
about 120 acres and they had about 35 fields in operation with
alfalfa, barley, and potatoes) but he was having to use ¼ of a tank of gas each
day that he worked. And working 6 days a week….well that adds up quick. We weren't able to put anything away. Not to
mention the fact that we don’t have a truck so his car was getting a lot of
wear and tear and he was still having to hike up to our camp each day. Unless
he could figure out riding with the other guy when he was working. SO, come the
end of May we took up this other guy’s offer who we’d met at the community center
where we’d go to shower. He had a house down on the floor that was off the grid
but since he needed to get back to his family, out of state, he needed someone
to stay there and watch the place to keep vandals away. Especially since he had
a REALLY nice solar system and had a
wind turbine that had been stolen the last time he left. No rent but he did ask us to clean up the
place and do a couple of repairs to get things running better. Replace a valve
so that we could bring water into the house and patch the roof before winter.
There had been issues with this couple since just before we moved with
them but once we told them our plans things really went downhill. We ended up
going our separate ways and have not spoken to them since early June when we
got our stuff out of storage, thus severing any ties we had with them.
We
ended up staying in the tent another month on the property we moved to
while I cleaned up the outside and the inside and got the rodent
problem under control. We counted 91 days that we lived in that tent.
Freaking
crazy! I never thought I’d do that, haha.
Fast forward to the present and we’ve moved out of the SLV.
It’s a whole mess of reasons but I’ll just start blabbing
and fit it all together. Cy was making shit at the farm, and despite 4 months
of busting his ass he still hadn’t gotten a raise. Even though his supervisor said he'd put in a good word for him. :-\
They had him learning how to drive a semi even though he doesn’t have his CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) and working 13 hour days sometimes because harvest for the barley started ½ way through August. He also learned that there were illegal Mexicans working on the farm, and that part of the reason he was having to drive a semi is because they didn't have their papers (citizenship). He also experienced some sort of reverse racism in that his boss (I’ll refer to him as D) is a white guy who favored the Mexicans (illegal or not) and treated/paid them better than Cy who is white. *SMH*
Back at the house where we were living in we found out that the landlord (best term for him I guess) wanted to move his “business partner” over because the trailer he had him in was going to have the power cut off. I don’t really understand all of it because he was a liar, manipulator and eventually we realized psycho… The story on what was going on with is partner and whether he'd be living with us for a week, or all of winter kept changing.
But this guy moves over despite our protests. Cy goes to his boss and explains the situation and he says there may be a place on the farm we could move into. Other employees there, all Mexican, live on the farm and don’t pay any rent or bills. We figured this would be a good option, or at least a safer one since the house we were in was not going to be ready for the colder weather on the way. At least on the farm we’d have power, running water and propane. It would have meant that Cy’d have to work even harder, and probably forfeit any sort of raise he may have had coming but it was worth it.
Unfortunately his boss was a dick and decided he’d charge us rent and make us pay for propane.
After doing our budgeting we realized we’d be using up his entire paycheck if
we made that move and not be able to save anything. Maybe $20 a month if we were extremely frugal. But for how long? Until next summer? A few years down the road?
We’d been hoping that we could get internet hooked up soon so that I could start learning from this guy we’d met how to do code for Linux and I’d be able to bring in more income for us. Thus allowing us to get a truck sooner, and then property of our own. So while Cy was at work that day, and after he found that out, he made the comment to his boss that he’d have just enough to get by but not enough to get ahead and D said, “Yeah not with what you make” and then later D says to Cy in front of the new guy (who just so happens to be starting out at a higher wage than Cy did…) that it was funny that they both made more than Cy….
We’d been hoping that we could get internet hooked up soon so that I could start learning from this guy we’d met how to do code for Linux and I’d be able to bring in more income for us. Thus allowing us to get a truck sooner, and then property of our own. So while Cy was at work that day, and after he found that out, he made the comment to his boss that he’d have just enough to get by but not enough to get ahead and D said, “Yeah not with what you make” and then later D says to Cy in front of the new guy (who just so happens to be starting out at a higher wage than Cy did…) that it was funny that they both made more than Cy….
At that point there was no way we’d be moving on to the farm
just so that they could continue to take advantage of him. But because of
issues with the landlord and how he wanted to run his business arrangements we
couldn’t stay there either. Hence our leaving the valley.
Cy at least conquered his fear of semis and now wants to get
his CDL so that he can get paid a much better wage to drive them, and there are a lot of jobs
hauling goods in and out of the valley.
This is what our whole adventure is going to look like at
the end.
We’re looking at the last 5 months as our scouting mission.
We know that it rains a lot in July and that these ridiculously annoying swarms
of flying red ants move in for a few weeks. Whatever house we have will need to
be as sealed as possible because the f***ers are so gross when they get in. One
day I killed over 1000 in our bedroom. *shudder*
We also know that August is the hottest month, how to tell when the high winds are going to be dying down soon, and that there
are some parts of the Sangre de Cristos we prefer over others. Mt. Blanca is
THE most visible Fourteener where we were and property on it really isn’t that
outrageous so when we DO make it back down there we may even look at land ON Blanca. :)
I think one of the most important things we learned, as
well, is that there are a lot of people who live in the most rural parts of the
valley, on the floor, who think it’s ok to steal from “abandoned” properties.
Yes, a lot of shacks, buildings, and other structures may seem abandoned but a lot of the owners live out of state, and
sometimes even out of the country, and so they’re not actually forgotten. The only time I will consider taking
anything from someone else is if the zombie apocalypse (or any such similar
scenario) is going on. I don’t care if a shack has a broken windows and an
unlocked or missing door. If it’s not the apocalypse I don’t need anything they
have…
We also got to eat wild turkey, THE
best turkey I’ve ever had, as well as Antelope. I got to see lots of hawks and huge crows and be inspired by their
majesty. I got to get in touch with the “country” side of me and do a lot of
soul searching. I got to learn how to start a fire better when I had to rely on
it for food and heat those 91 days. Now, I want to learn how to better put out
a fire just enough that it’s not burning, but not so that it goes out and you
have to start from scratch when you need it built up again…. [Smooring a fire is what I think it's called...]
I honestly didn’t experience any sort of culture shock when
we moved down there. I thought I might since I’ve never lived in the mountains
or even “rurally” but I found the small towns and way of life fascinating.
Going to Alamosa (population 9k compared to 90k where we came from) was enough
city for me after a while and I enjoyed not having to go there at all most of
the week. But just 2 days out of the valley and I began experiencing quite a
bit of culture shock. I couldn’t stand how foreign and shiny Denver was, and
just hearing traffic in the distant or people talking at the next house over
has been enough to make me feel anxious.
Before this gets much longer I will say that while I don’t
feel like we “failed” I am kinda bummed. I know that we just need to fight
harder & get back down there with more fiat currency in hand, a truck, and possibly
even an RV or small trailer. Maybe even build a tiny home on a trailer
I know that A LOT of you have been following this adventure and I hope we have not let you down with this turn of events. I hope that you will realize, like we have, that everything happens for a reason and that we are not giving up. I turned 23 and he turned 25 this summer and we’re still freaking young, haha. I also hope that you won’t stop following things. I promise that whether it’s about us hitting the road in a semi for a while, or something boring like “we finally got a truck!” I’ll keep updating things.
I know that A LOT of you have been following this adventure and I hope we have not let you down with this turn of events. I hope that you will realize, like we have, that everything happens for a reason and that we are not giving up. I turned 23 and he turned 25 this summer and we’re still freaking young, haha. I also hope that you won’t stop following things. I promise that whether it’s about us hitting the road in a semi for a while, or something boring like “we finally got a truck!” I’ll keep updating things.