I had lunch with Melissa today. We met on the corner by the bridge, as we often do spur-of-the-moment now that we both work downtown. After our standard greetings and pleasantries, Melissa said, "Did you cut your hair again?" I replied in the negative, and Melissa noted that it had a lot of body, more flounce than usual. It's the humidity. My usually fine, straight hair takes on a life of its own in the humidity. I'd forgotten.
Photos of me from the summer my family moved to Northern Virginia sport a distinctly different 'do than previous or later photos. I had long chalked it up to my hair being quite a bit shorter than normal and having quite a bit more volume to go with the loss of length. But my hair was still below my shoulders; and the truth of the matter is that having newly encountered NoVa humidity in the range of 80 percent, my hair reacted in a BIG WAY. After a month or so, my hair adjusted. Such hair volume without the help of curlers and hair spray (for strictly theatrical purposes) I did not again encounter until Lauren's wedding in Montgomery, Alabama. Dealing with super-saturated air for over a week, my hair took on a life of its own. Each successive picture from the week I spent down there shows more hair, less Megan.
This week in Fairbanks, our temperatures have been hovering around 85 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take a few degrees. Humidity has been climbing as high pressure and wildlfire smoke seem to have combined forces to keep moisture trapped low. Humidity currently sits around 33 percent. I feel like I am melting or wilting or some combination of both. I think most Fairbanksans feel much the same way. Temperatures right now are a full 135 degrees (F) higher than they were for chunks of the winter. As a former East Coaster, I tend to scoff at calling anything less than 80 percent humid; but as a Fairbanksan, my hair is betraying me! We're used to percentages closer to 3 or 7 most of the year.
I do declare that it's humid and hot; and since there isn't air conditioning to be found in the majority of Fairbanks, I'm using this as an excuse to drink gin and tonic or mint juleps or some other ice-cold summertime drink. Cheers!
5:00 update... 91 degrees. I think this may be the first time we broke 90 in Fairbanks since I moved here...
