Gray

My hair was becoming longer than before the birth of my second child (who is now 15),
     and the unruly, gray colored ones were attempting to build a nest
on the top of my head.

I was counting the days until my appointment.   

In the meantime, our entire area was caught up in a vortex of hurricane-like weather
     and tropical storms, one after the other,
causing it to rain for days and nights . . . . . . days and nights.   

Until . . . . . .
           
               the creeks, and gutters, and sewers, and drain pipes
could no longer contain the amount of water being poured into them,
causing it to spill out onto the streets like giant buckets being poured from the sky,
carrying with it tree branches, debris . . . . . . and cars.  

Street after street became impassible and unrecognizable,
     turning into rivers and ponds.

Bridges, obsolete - disappeared.

For miles and miles, gridlocked cars, barely inching along - going nowhere.  

School buses, filled with children, with no place to go.   


It took me an hour and a half to travel three miles to pick up my son from school,
     put gas in the car (  it was on empty ), then back home.   

In our neighborhood, water was shooting out of the sewer like a geyser,
     ten feet into the sky, landing in the flooded roadway.

That was Thursday evening, and the rain was to continue through the night,
     and into the next day.  

School for Friday was canceled.

I awoke Friday morning to a . . .

          "Boom!"

and then a . . .

          "MO-om!  The electricity just went out!"

The good news was that without the light,
     I could no longer see my gray hairs in the mirror.  

My appointment was scheduled for 12:00.
 
I texted my girlfriend / stylist.

     "Are you going to make it into the salon today?
                           If not, I am coming to your house!" I said.

She texted back to me ( in the words of Michael Jackson ) -  "I'll be there."

     THERE IS A GOD.  

I drove in the rain to get there, and after two hours, the gray was gone.   

No, I mean, REALLY - the gray was gone.

For, when I opened the door to leave the salon, 

     there was a light and a brightness, 

a warmth upon my skin . . . . . .  and in the sky, the color of blue.      

No gray on my head, no gray in the sky.  

LIFE IS GOOD.  

And, when I arrived back home, the electricity was back on.  

Unfortunately, I know that the gray will eventually return ( in one form, or another).  

But, there is solace in knowing that there will always be color.

There will ALWAYS be color.