The best thing I know for literally blowing cares away is to head out in the car with the top down. You may think England’s weather offers little opportunity in which to benefit from a convertible. You would be wrong. If it’s not actually raining and the temperature is above that at which I risk the rear screen cracking, then the top goes down. I’ll grant it’s less than ideal when I’m doing 90 on the motorway driving safely at the upper end of legal speeding limits, but what the hell.
The negligible downside is that when I arrive at most destinations I look less attractively windswept and more as though I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards. By the time I’ve tugged a hairbrush through the resultant tangles, the static makes me look like Crystal Tipps.
When I was getting ready to drive back from Sheffield the other weekend, I tied my hair back. I like to think this looks carelessly chic. Apparently not:
Friend’s 4 year old: ‘You look funny!’
Me: ‘Why?’
Friend’s 4 year old: ‘Because you look like a bunny’
Me: ‘Why?’
Friend’s 4 year old: ‘Because you’ve got a little tail!’
QED, then. It is just as well that the car is pretty enough for both of us.
Musings from the sofa 
To combat this problem, my mom and I will throw long scarves over our heads, cross the ends under our chins and throw those ends over our shoulders. Scarf must be accompanied by over-large sunglasses.
Raych – I’m going to have to try it one day, when I’m wearing contact lenses. And very red lipstick.
I’m reminded of the hilarious scene from Terms of Endearment when Jack Nicholson takes Shirley Maclaine for a ride in his convertible (and I completely empathize).
Who cares what you look like! From one convertible lover to another, I know exactly what you mean and the resulting bedraggled look is completely worth it. Of course you could go back to short hair…