Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Back to School with No Curls

September 2, 1965

Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Don't have much time. School has started. Sigh! Oh, I don't suppose it's all bad. I get to see my friends and Leigh helped me buy some new clothes. I wore one of the new skirts today. It's a-line and a neat color of green and it doesn't look half bad. 

Now if I could get my hair to do something besides lay flat on my head. Straight hair is the pits. All the other girls have these cute little curling rolls around the bottom of their hair. Mine is straight. I roll it and it just looks like I forgot to brush it. I spray it and it looks like rope strands or something. Wes tells me to let it be straight and be glad about it. He says straight hair is all the rage on Jupiter. I told him I don't go to school on Jupiter. But I think I'd probably be more popular there. 

I don't let Dad hear me say something like that. He says popularity is over-rated. That the only one I should worry about being popular with is the Lord. And that I'd better remember that and not do things I shouldn't just because other kids are doing them. I'm not about to do that. You know, stuff like sneaking around smoking or skipping school.  I just want my hair to have those cute flipped up curls or I'll take curls under. But guess I'll have to settle for straight and apply for Jupiter schools.   

Did you ever worry about how your hair looked when you went to school? Or about wearing the right clothes? Did you sometimes feel like you were the only girl in school who looked gorky?

Oh, I did write a couple more pages about Bailey and Lucinda. I didn't have time to write much. I was too busy trying to make my hair curl. But here they are.

Bailey's Bug by Jocie Brooke 
   (The story continues. Remember, the rest of what I've already written is up there under "pages" on the tabs. Hope you understood that. I sure didn't.) 



    Lucinda didn’t say anything for so long that Bailey decided she’d gone to sleep on the branch above him. Cats could sleep anywhere.
    He was thinking about shaking the bush to wake her when she made a funny hiss. Not mad. Kind of tired sounding. “If you’re determined to go even though it is dumb and you don’t have any chance of ever finding Reid and there won’t be any food and you’ll end up wandering around forever and starving or reduced to eating carcasses on the road.” Lucinda shivered and set the bush to shaking.
    “I’m going.” Bailey tried to block out the part about no food. Carcasses on the road might not be too awful. Might not.
    Again there was a long, worrisome silence. Lucinda had to be thinking about her window seat and sunshine. Then all at once she leaped out of the bush and landed on all four feet right in front of his nose. He couldn’t keep from jumping a little.
   “As much as I hate the thought of going with you, I can’t let you go off half cocked with nothing more than a bug in your ear for help. Heaven help me but I’m going to have to go too.”
    Bailey hopped up and down, setting the bush to shuddering. He had his tongue out to give her a happy dog lick, but she swiped at his nose with her paw. She didn’t pull in her claws.
    “Don’t you dare. I don’t do dog slobber. Never forget that!” She made the funny little hissing sigh again. “I’m only going with you so that when you get lost, I can lead you back to the Robinsons.”
    “I won’t get lost. Dogs don’t, you know.”
    Lucinda acted as if she didn’t hear him. “I’ll purr and rub Mrs. Robinson’s legs, and you can do that stupid dance of yours with your tongue hanging out that people seem to like. Heaven only knows why.”
    “We won’t get lost.” Bailey panted happily, but he was careful not to let his tongue drip on Lucinda. “Thank you for coming with me.”
    “Dogs!”  Lucinda had a growl in her voice. “Never met one who wasn’t more trouble than he was worth. Well, come on. Let’s get this foolishness over with.”
    Bailey started out from under the bush and jumped when the leash rattled. He gave the nasty thing a leery look. “What about the leash? I don’t want it to go with us.”
 

(To be continued)




2 comments:

  1. Hi Jocie! Don't worry about your hair honey! I bet it is the prettiest hair there in town. The other day at the grocery store I heard a lady say to her children, "Twenty-five dollars for shampoo! I am not letting anyone play with my pocket book like that! Let's see what other shampoo is over here. I bet we can find shampoo that works just as good. And you little ones don't have to worry because this works just as good as that twenty five dollar shampoo and your hair is going to look just as pretty as the other girls!" I think she is right. Jesus would say the same thing. I know he would. And I don't think his hair flipped up on the ends. And look how many people love him! Karen, back in NC

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    1. My hair is just ordinary, Karen. Well, worse than ordinary. Straight and stubborn, but most of the time I don't worry that much about it. Too many other things to think about and write again. I can't imagine any shampoo costing $25. We can buy a month's worth of groceries for $25. Aunt Love would have a stroke!! I've seen pictures of Jesus, but Dad says some of them are just what people think Jesus might have looked like. He says it's more important to think about the things Jesus taught us on how to live. But I think you're right. He'd tell us not to spend $25 on shampoo!!

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Jocie loves to know what you're thinking about your visits to Hollyhill.