Random Ramblings

Even I have to admit that I was scraping the bottom of the barrel with last week's story. I'd thought to start my random rambling last week, but it was late at night and I had to get up early the next morning, and, well, it was just easier to post something that was already written than to come up with something new.

So here we are. It's Friday and I'm ready to ramble. ;-)

But first - maybe a word of explanation. Last weekend I was procrastinating feeling nostalgic and I looked up my old blog. Not my first blog (I can remember neither the name nor the address of it) but the one I had before this one. And I started reading my first posts. They were short, they were pithy, they were a hodge podge of whatever popped into my head. And I thought to myself, "Self? Why not share some of my random thoughts in my Friday posts?" So me, myself, and I talked it over, and though I wasn't sure if I even had enough thoughts in my head to share in a post each week, me and myself overruled her and so . . . here I am.

On to my ramble. :-)

The weather has warmed up considerably in Southern Ontario (which is where I live). In fact, it's been so nice this week that I've had both the deck doors and the window in my office open late into the night. Spring is definitely here, and with spring comes the traditional putting away of the heavy winter clothing and breaking out the lighter clothes - skirts, shorts, capris . . . And you know what that means ladies. That's right, time to break out the razors.

I don't know about you, but I tend to slack off when it comes to shaving my legs in the winter time. I mean, who's going to see them under your thermal underwear and snow pants?

How old were you when you started shaving your legs? Do you even remember? Or maybe you don't shave. Maybe you wax, or use a depilatory cream, or you sprang for electrolysis . As I contemplated the razors I had let languish in my medicine cabinet, my mind drifted and I wondered how we ever developed the custom of shaving body hair ('cause let's face it, there are a lot of people who remove hair from more than just their legs). So I did what any other curious person who pays outrageous cable internet fees would do. I did a Google search.

What I discovered was pretty darned interesting. For instance, did you know that mankind has been removing its body hair since the time of the cave man? Back then it had nothing to do with appearance and everything to do with not wanting to give the enemy anything to hang onto (as well as discovering that less hair equalled less lice).

In ancient Egypt, where body hair was considered shameful and unclean, women removed all the hair from their bodies, except for their eyebrows. They would do this using knives made from flint or bronze, by plucking, or by the ancient method of sugaring, which is where a sticky paste is applied and then ripped off, much like waxing. Men had their body hair removed too. To remain unshaven was to be unbarbered, which is where the word barbarians came from.

Have you ever noticed that the ancient Greek statues of women show them without pubic hair? The Turks considered it shameful for women to have pubic hair - their public baths were equipped with rooms where women could have their hair removed. Many European castles had rooms where women could gather to shave. The paintings of the master Rubens depict women without pubic hair.

So time to participate in a long standing tradition. Ladies - choose your weapons. Time to get rid of those gorilla legs. :-)