"Bless your little pointed head," my Aunt Liz used to say. How DID she know?

These people are looking all too much like my mirror image!

A plethora of head coverings arrived yesterday via mail order.  Fedoras, cloches, berets--and funny little fake fringes of hair to go underneath.  Had my wig restyled to bring it down to size but I still look like a former governor of Texas. (No, NOT "dubya"!) 

Our cultural norms of beauty (or just basically looking fairly normal) are really noticeable from this side of the street, very interesting and somewhat both oppressive and liberating at the same time.

I can be fully dressed these days and yet feel naked.
Children and teens' sideways and wary looks reflect the truth of our society's discomfort with "different" just through the clear filter of youth before it learns to be "discrete".  But the truth is still refreshing to see in young eyes even if it is not what I might want to BE the truth.

My sympathy grows for the displaced, the disrespected, the different and the devalued:  reminding me of a Joan Baez song that touched me when I first heard it years ago.  It's not only about the old--it's about those who feel "outside" because of their circumstances:  age, illness, race, accent, disfigurements, size, intelligence, physical or mental restrictions, and personal choices of lifestyle :

Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
Old people they just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello,"
Say, "Hello in there, hello."

Having lived and traveled fairly extensively in South America, Mexico, Panama, Europe and Eastern Europe, I learned that a smile and learning just two words in their language bridged a lot of gaps:  "Please" and "thank you."  But in the absence of those two words, the sincere smile still opens hearts and opens doors.

So, I'm going to smile, make eye contact and say "Hello in there, hello"  to someone unlike me and perhaps I'll open a heart.. How about you?

  "Bless your little pointed head,"