You Are Never Too Old For Dangly Earrings

In my entire life, I have never once worn a pair of dangly earrings. But, oh, they seem such fun - just that little bit more flamboyant, more carefree, more devil-may-care, and that little bit less prim and conservative than the studded, close to ear lobe, style.

Since we are at a stage where we have a somewhat shorter shelf life, I decided I had better seize the moment and have my ears pierced one last time. (Now, that's a long story, dating back to the early '90's, involving less connective tissue in one ear lobe than the other, a double split lobe on one side, a plastic surgeon, and years of wearing nothing but clip-ons to cover up the entire issue - or scar tissue! The plastic surgeon did, at the time, give me his blessing in terms of trying again.)

So six weeks ago, we were on Barrington Street, close to the waterfront, at The Loop  (a wonderful yarn shop), asking Mimi for a phone book to find the address of a salon that did ear piercing, with Mimi, on the other hand, trying to talk me into going around the corner to Blowers Street to get my ears done at a tattoo parlor/body piercing studio there! Now, hindsight is 20/20. I probably would have been just as well off at the tattoo parlor and if I had a camera with me that day, I would have been sorely (!) tempted to go - if only for the opportunity to record the entire experience! But I opted for the more conservative choice (See - this kind of decision making is how I ended up with those prim, studded earrings for decade upon decade!).

About six weeks of healing time is recommended and when I got my hair cut during that interim period, Fred, my hairdresser, pointed out that since the rings the salon used for the piercing are exactly the same as those inserted in nipples, umbilical areas, and noses, I might just as well have saved myself a trip across the city and simply dropped in to see that tattoo man - because it was looking as though I had gone there in any case.

This morning, with only a small amount of difficulty, I finally removed the piercing rings, put on my danglys and, oh, they do make me feel like a free spirit! Next thing you know, we will be setting off to trace the steps of the Romanies across Europe!

(By the way, did you hear about the gypsy fortune teller who looked into her crystal ball and told the scarecrow she could see him working in another field???)