back to basics

my husband was out of town today, so i decided to utilize the morning to dye my hair.  i had bought the dye weeks, maybe a month or so ago, but my weekends have been so busy that i kept pushing it off.  the main difference this time between all the times before it was that i was dyeing my hair back to black, or 'black licorice' as the box indicated.  i had promised my husband i would quit coloring my hair awhile ago, and although the thought scared me (since i hadn't had my natural hair color since my freshman year of college), frankly i was alittle tired of keeping up with my roots reappearing.  so, once i had the gloves on and prepared the dye, there was no going back.

the effect was instant.  odd.  the color was black indeed, but seemingly darker than my natural hair color, and in stark contrast with my light skin.  so i still am not used to the strange reflection staring back at me.  i know with time i will become used to it (what choice do i have?) but it's something else too.  i didn't realize it earlier, but while i had been stripping my hair of the color and accents and chemicals i had used over the last decade, i was starting anew by going back to the basics.

afterwards, not feeling up to going out, i spent most of my afternoon rereading the hunger games.  even though it was the second time around and i knew what would happen (not to mention i had just read it only a week ago), i still couldn't pull away.  this time i dwelled more on the descriptions of the scenes, painting the pictures in my head.  there were other details i noticed during this read, like watching a movie for the second time and discovering things that had been missed at first glance.  it's amazing how a story can change and develop with a longer look, with a different perspective, one with knowing the ending.  because now, instead of focusing on the major plot points, there's a chance to see the accompaniments, the pieces of the drama that complement it, which are just as important as the key events.  if the story were stripped bare, it would be these elements that would prove vital to the book as a whole.

so today was a second look of sorts; at myself, at a story i can't get enough of.