Buttercups are popping up everywhere on the Southside. Okay, buttercups are not exclusive to my neck of the woods and are, in fact, beginning to bloom all over the South, from my mama”s little country roadside in my hometown of Richton to my old stomping grounds all over Jackson.
It”s here, spring that is, and it”s in full bloom.
My new friend Meredith Andrews is a true Southerner who lives in a glorious cottage just lined with, as she likes to say, “buttacups.” I just love how Southerners drop our “r”s” and make everything sound “betta.” Why, if I closed my eyes and just listened, I might think Scarlett O”Hara was right here in the Golden Triangle. Goodness knows, we do have our versions of Tara.
The buttercups, of course, are by all accounts just daffodils. Nevertheless, they offer a surefire sign that spring has arrived. I scooped up a big handful of ”em and put them near a window, and for several mornings woke to the golden sun peeking in over their little blonde heads.
Ah, I do love this time of year, maybe for no other reason than the vibrant shade of yellow that is everywhere to be seen. It”s in the flowers, purses, hats and even hair color. That”s right, salons are spilling over with the young and young at heart brightening natural blonde tresses with slices of platinum around the face, honey hues painted onto little squares of silver foils and, yes, in small beauty parlors somewhere even being pulled through the highlighting cap. Ouch! The things we do for beauty.
Spring hues
Hair color, especially blonde, has come a long way since the days of my mama and her Miss Clairol in the box, 45 minutes of processing time, rinse and then off to Boy Scouts. Flaxen blonde as modeled in those ”80s commercials by then supermodel Christie Brinkley has taken a backseat to more modern hues like Vanilla Cream, Butterscotch and Café au Lait. It”s all just blonde to me, sun-kissed, stunning shades of yellow!
There is nothing more Southern than a ravishing head of blonde hair, and much like those little beacons of spring, the buttercups, it”s just beautiful. While having dinner at J. Broussard”s a few nights back with friends, I could not help staring across our table, not at the key lime pie, but focused on the two blonde beauties conversing, as my mama would say, “as pretty as the day is long.”
As laughter filled the air that night, friends reuniting over talk about the university, basketball scores, daughters and upcoming prom season, it made me wonder if blondes truly do have more fun. Well, it”s springtime indeed, and as some board planes for the Caribbean, others walk along the buttercup-lined sidewalks of our charming hometowns. And if Scarlett were here, herself a brunette siren, she might simply answer that question for us all with, “Oh, fiddle-de-de.”
Now, go scoop up some of nature”s yellow before it is all gone and paint the town blonde, brown or some shade of beautiful!
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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