Aging gracefully (or wrong turn)

This post was supposed to be about aging gracefully, but the wrong turn happened.  More about that later.

I was never a fashionista so having the right colour or style was never an issue for me.  As I have grown older, it has not been a consideration for me if I am wearing clothes appropriate to my age.  Hair, however, is a different matter.  Yes, I have always been vain about my hair -- it was my best feature.  After getting it cut and permed in Grade 8 for Confirmation, I let it grow and adopted the straight style of the 60s and 70s --it wouldn't do much else anyway.  Summer always bleached my hair and at about 17, I started to use Sun-In to keep that summer look all year.  Well, that was just haircolour and so I started visiting the hair dresser every 6 weeks.  Well, when kids came along, priorities changed and there were more time constraints, I turned to Nice and Easy.  In my 30s and 40s, the long straight style still suited me and so I continued to get a trim about once a year and just touched up the roots regularly.  I did notice that some 'older' women were also keeping that style and there was quite a shock when you saw them from the back and then there was the very mature face in front.  Not for me, I decided. 

A few years ago, I noticed that what I was colouring was a bit grey and so about 2 years ago, I decided to let the grey take over.  My sister had gone through that process and her hair was almost white.  Perfect, going from blonde to white would be fine.

Well, I let it grow and grow.  No white, just grey with some streaky bits.  Last November I took the plunge and got it cut short -- even shorter than that previous minimum back when I was 12.  It is incredibly easy to take care of and a bicycle helmet is not problem.  There, growing old, gracefully, instead of clutching onto youth.

So today I planned to ride across the island, gracefully.  I was not going to take the hardest, fastest route, but rather the one which slopes gradually up and down.  Still, it is a 200 m climb both ways. Going to Ribiera Grande worked out perfectly, but coming back, I took the wrong turn at a traffic circle and found myself on the main highway (max 100, min 40).  It had a wide shoulder and I took the first exit after I realized my error.  But it was a much more steep climb than I had anticipated and so the ride lacked a lot of grace.

Wrong turns will happen and they will stress me.  I hope to have the grace to admit a mistake and make it right as soon as possible.