Blog 1888 – 11.24.2020

Rapunzel

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E7KN6_tcxzXdoSx2Yi-JRmFoBGa889r2/view?usp=drivesdk

Rapunzel

Many men and witches it seem like girls to wear their hair long. It was a man contrary to the myth that wrote, “Does not nature itself show you that a man’s long hair is his shame while a woman’s long hair is her glory?” The thing about hair for men and women is that left uncut it tends to grow long and certainly Samson’s long hair was not a shame to him nor did the pretty flappers of the nineteen twenties have any trouble getting their fair share of men even with their short bob haircuts.

Rapunzel’s long hair was just a substitute for a stair case and must have been an incredible bother to maintain as long hair always is, requiring frequent washing, brushing and braiding to keep it attractive and manageable.

I recall attending a Primitive Baptist revival meeting in South Carolina with my father-in-law many years ago as a return favor for his attending with me a high church unity Easter Friday service in Houston, Texas. He had gotten the shock of his life when a long haired robed figure walked down the center aisle carrying a cross. This beardless Jesus was portrayed by a woman. Dad’s shocked wide eyes silently shouted heresy. He later that summer got his sweet revenge by inviting me to attend a night service at his dearly departed mother’s church. How could I refuse? And how I soon wished I had.

The young barely or narrowly educated young man behind the pulpit went on and on mostly about wicked women wearing pants and short hair tempting men into the deepest darkest sins. And at one point he yelled at the top of his lungs, “What man among would want his wife to wear pants and short hair?” As I thought of my attractive loving wife with short blonde hair and wearing short pants at home on her parent’s farm enjoying a glass of iced tea, it was all I could do to keep my hand down or a big smile off my face.

I hope the young man behind the pulpit, if he is still preaching, has learned a new shtick as well as an appreciation of women with short hair and more modern clothing styles. But then the Amish are not the only ones who shun a world that has gone on without them or pine for a past that probably never was.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair,” was the password to the golden elevator up to the top of the tall stair-less tower where dwelt the beautiful long blonde haired girl. I believe I heard recently that she is currently residing in a down stairs apartment and wears her hair styled short and even has been seen wearing jeans or shorts from time to time. My how times have changed, sometimes even for the better.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/192eMj1nb6cMLWDhespfSE9vynFYEuHLG/view?usp=drivesdk

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