My sister arrived in the doorway with rivers of brilliant blue running down her face and neck and into her shirt. For some reason, she’d chosen that day to renew her hair color and been unfortunate enough to arrive at our family summer home in a downpour. By now you’re aware that our place is on an island, which means crossing a stretch of water in a rowboat, completely unprotected from the elements. Every bag she set down immediately created a small lake on the floor. I was thankful I’d not bothered to actually wash the floor earlier since the job would get done now when we mopped up the rain she’d brought in. My sister’s Jack Russell came in and shook. For a small dog, she sure managed to add quite a bit to the general wetness. It began to look like they’d all fallen INTO the lake.

I know, you’re wondering why blue? I wonder that myself. I’d like to think it’s a mid-life crisis, but coloring her hair with vibrant and very unnatural tints has been going on too long to be just a crisis. I think it’s become a way of life, so I shrug my shoulders. That’s my sister and I love her, blue hair, or purple, or whatever the latest color is! She drives a car with fish on it too. Kind of completes the picture! The car was once my mom’s car and I had to take it away from her when her Alzheimer’s got so bad she’d become a hazard to herself and others. Because my Dad lived in the same house and I didn’t and we knew she would be angry, I took the fall. Sarah had needed a new car for some time and it just made sense to give her my Mom’s old car. But like I said, we knew Mom wasn’t going to be happy about losing her wheels so Sarah took it to the body shop and maroon became teal.

Before she took possession of my mom’s car, Sarah drove an ancient white vehicle that had been named Handy Andy due to the multi-colored handprints she and her daughter had decorated the fading white paint with. I suppose, after the all attention Handy Andy drew from anyone who saw it, driving a plain teal car, however lovely the color might be, wasn’t an option. Before long it sported an entire aquarium of creatures, clown fish, seaweed and an octopus that wrapped its arms lovingly about its unlikely home. I don’t know if Sarah ever bestowed a name on this creation, but it attracts as much attention as ever Handy Andy did.

And then there’s the blue hair…..