No, I don't have dreadlocks. Yes, I have blue hair . . .

Just thought I'd start with the most obvious (at least most surface)
changes in the past couple of years . . .

Why the dreadlocks?

I had help from the damp--Big Island--jungle in creating the "dreads." Actually it was much easier to have them than not have them after living there a few months. And to tell the truth I stood out less with them.

Why not the dreadlocks?

At the end of last year, actually over the 2008 New Year, Ethan and I "sat" at a Vipassana on the Hamakua Coast. A Vipassana is a 10 day meditation course where we actually sat in meditation 11 hrs a day. During the course we were completely focussed inward, observing our thoughts, our breathing, and the sensations of our bodies. We did not communicate or even make eye contact with anyone during that time except to ask the most neccessary questions (only happened twice for me.) This was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. After a few days my attention was focussed to such subtle detail that I could literally feel (and see, in my minds eye) my energy move up and down and through my whole body as I scanned it. The energy seemed to get hung up in my dreads, they just felt like a dark weight on my head that wasn't allowing an easy flow.

(Here's a link to finding out more about Vipassana: http://www.dhamma.org/ )

So, Ethan and I went camping at one of our favorite places, Hookena beach, for a few days after the Vipassana and I asked him to cut the dreads off. This was the result . . .

Why blue?

I don't have a solid answer for that. Maybe because I knew I'd be living in grey Eugene. Maybe because I knew in Eugene it wouldn't stand out that much. Maybe because I knew I'd miss the ocean and sky of Hawaii. Maybe because little girls love it
(of course I didn't know that until I did it.)

Anyway, for now, it's true, . . .
. . . I'm blue.