It's all about the hair

Walking home today, I past several homes with the same activity happening on the porch. Big girls, little girls..."doing" each others' hair.

I've heard it called several thousand things over the years, and frankly, I'm not sure what it's called here. It's braiding, platting, twisting, spiraling, and probably many other names. But all seems to end with beads or other such adornment.

There are more hair salons on this island than gas stations. There is an absolute dedication to the hair and being sure that it is different on a regular basis and "taken care of" even more regularly. It takes hours upon hours to "do" the average head of hair and is part of the social fabric of parts of the island. My landlord is a self proclaimed "expert".

But then, with the adorned beauty of the island, it's people, it's vegetation, there is good reason to keep the hair just right. And, to be honest, there's not much else to do, so why not the hair.