Out of the frying pan, into the fire(wait, that's no fire, that's my hair!)

Never one to leave well enough alone, last week I once again acted on an ill-advised hair-related impulse and hennaed my hair. I already have red hair to begin with, and my past experiences with henna (there have been a lot of them) have always turned out pretty subtle. Not this time. For several days my hair was a horrifying bright carroty orange, eventually oxidizing to a deep auburn that is (whew!) much closer to my natural color. Or at least, what used to be my natural color. So far I still don't have any gray to speak of other than the occasional random single hair. But the color is definitely not as red as it was when I was younger. Except that of course now, it is. At least for awhile.

When I was little there was this lady at our church who'd once had hair the same red as mine, or so she said. In her old age it had turned a fascinating shade of champagne pink, possibly by way of some kind of mysterious rinse. We would meet in the foyer and admire each other. I aspired to my very own airy pink halo of delicately curling hair, perhaps, someday ....

In other news, the cafe next to my office has suddenly and inexplicably closed. Nobody seems to know exactly what is going on. I had my usual bagel in the morning, and when I went back for my afternoon decaf soy chai latte, the gate was locked and a big sign in the window announced "Closed for the season."

The scuttlebutt around here is that they're not reopening, though I have high hopes that someone will soon see the opportunity there and figure out a way to make something happen. Something that involves food, is what I'm hoping. Otherwise, where am I supposed to eat? The next closest place is a whole block away! Which does not seem like much, but if it isn't close enough to just zip over there and back in under five minutes it might as well be on the moon, since I very rarely have time to take the elusive state-mandated 10-minute break.

I have a lot of more interesting things to write about one of these days, as soon as I have time. Here are my top ten upcoming topics, just so you have something to look forward to.

1. My 80-year-old bicycle riding friend: fixing her bike, picnic in the park, she brought me apples.
2. Utah vacation, including a selection of bizarre scenes from the airport.
3. Followup to my ex-husband tantrum, and how journaling helps me maintain my perspective over time.
4. Grizzly Man obsession (with mention of Christopher McCandless and Everett Reuss).
5. New developments at work.
6. Tater's foot.
7. Cows: First Contact.
8. Essential gear for small-town all-season bicycle commuting.
9. My recent crippling attack of blog comment envy.
10. Seven Days Later: Vacation photo analysis, or, Why I Must Immediately Lose The Weight I've Been Talking About Losing For Oh, About Ten Years Or So Now.

Bonus topic: Looking forward to Lent, and I'm not even Catholic!