I have made it to the THREE year mark…that “magical” time when dreads come into their own. The rumored “three year bliss” does exist. My dreads are finally long enough, tight enough, wonderful enough to love fully every day.

This year has been a crazy one. Full of wonder and magical moments. Deep joy…and deep sorrow. Endings and beginnings.

It started out with us being back in Bozeman and living in a house.
We found an amazing midwife and friend.
We lived temporarily in Boulder, CO for 6 weeks.
Then, my brother almost died.
Then, my grandma died.
Lucy was born!
Family visited.
And more family visited.
We bought the Minnie Winnie.
We did some traveling and some more traveling.
We sold the Minnie Winnie.
We bought the Big Alpine.
Then, we sold everything AGAIN and went back on the road.
With TWO kids this time.
We explored Washington, Oregon, and California.
We flew back to Iowa.
We flew back to Montana.
We drove 15 hours back to Minnesota.
We flew back to the RV in California.
Whew!

And that was the year of 2009. All without the stress of doing my hair.
LOVE IT.

Yes, LOVE. I have not once regretted my decision to dread my hair. I really can’t imagine myself without them now. They’re just a part of my being.
Some observations in the third year:

• My washing/drying process hasn’t changed much. I still wash about once a week (every 2-3 days in the summer) with diluted Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap and rinse with diluted apple cider vinegar. I usually dry them a little bit to fluff them up. I will occasionally wash just my bangs mid-way through the week.
• Many of you have commented about the loose hair that I have in the front. It’s always been that way…they just never dreaded up, and I like them that way!
• I dye them blonde about every 3-4 months. I go to the Aveda training school in West Des Moines whenever we’re back in Iowa. The first time was pretty funny…they didn’t really know what to do with me and my crazy hair, but after they figured it out, it was fast and cheap! I love them blonde and I don’t really ever plan on dying them back to my natural color. I have been throwing around the idea of putting in some color on a few dreads…like purple. I love purple.
• My hair continues to be a spiritual journey for me. They have taught me about acceptance, change, contentment…and I continue to learn from them daily! I choose to be “set apart” from the norm of our culture…which parallels my walk with Jesus.
• I’ve been wearing them down a lot more now that they are longer and I like the versatility. I wore them back/up/under a bandana for 3 years and I paid those dues…it’s time to let them fly! I wear a rubber band around my wrist all the time though…I probably put them up and down 3-4 times a day depending on what I’m doing at the time.
• They still do their own thing. Some ends are looser than others. Some are super short, some are very long. Some are stick straight and others are like a winding country road. Some of the roots are loose and some are tight. And I like it that way. You cannot “tame” dreads, and that’s the beauty of it. I really don’t mess with them much except to wash them.
• Lucy loves my dreads. They are her built in toys and teether.
• I looove beads in my dreads. They make me happy.
• I have an incredibly supportive husband who loves my dreads.
• How long will I keep them? Forever I hope. When I am old, I shall wear purple…and DREADS!

In this third year of dreadiness, I have had the chance to meet up with more fun dready mamas. In Portland, I met up with Shauna and Monica. I love those beautiful, talented women! And of course Bethany and Jordan and Gillian in Eugene with their crazy amazing dreads.

In October, I was able to experience the “dready love fest”. I had the chance to visit Stephanie, “The Dread Goddess” at Akemi Salon in Portland (on far right in photo below). She did some much needed maintenance on my dreads…I recommend her HIGHLY! You can read about it on Denise’s blog here. For those of you just starting out and want to skip a lot of the craziness, she “crochets” dreads instead of just backcombing and they look great right from the beginning. It’s worth traveling to Portland to see her! Love love love.

When you have dreads and you are able to spend time in the presence of others who have dreads…especially other women, there is just something magical about it. There is such acceptance and love…it’s awesome. That’s why I love traveling so much…so I can find all of you!! Anyone up for a huge dready retreat somewhere where we can all be together? Hmmmmm….

Fast forward to right now…we are in San Diego, where we have spent time with the lovely Boho Girl, Denise and her family again. She took all of the amazing photos of my dreads. Thank you thank you thank you Denise…for making me feel beautiful!! We had a wonderful time communing and eating together…the time flew by too fast. She wrote about our time together on her blog here. If you aren’t reading her blog on a regular basis, you should be!

Here’s to another year of adventures…on the road, with dreadlocks!

If you are new to my blog, here are the links to:
Why I Have Dreadlocks
One Year Dreadiversary
Two Year Dreadiversary
My Dreadlock Journey – A Photo Gallery

Photos used with permission – by Denise Andrade – Boho Photography

Dreadlocks. The mere mention of the word has my grandmothers running for the hills. But I love them…and I have always wanted my very own. So, after we moved West, I decided that life is too short to keep wanting. I didn’t want to turn 80 and wish I had done dreads when I was younger. So, I did it. My lovely and amazing friend, Becky, flew up from South Carolina to visit me and she helped start my hair on it’s dreading journey.

For those of you who don’t know anything about dreads…this will be a wonderful chance for you to open your mind and broaden your horizons. Dreads are not just for pot smokers, homeless people, hippies, African-Americans, or Rastafarians. Basically, ANYONE can have dreads if they stop combing their hair. They have been around for a long, long time. There is a great book I recently added to my collection called “Dreads“. It has tons of stories and beautiful photos.

Here are a few excerpts of dreadlock history:

The first known examples of the hairstyle date back to ancient Egypt, where dreadlocks appeared on Egyptian artifacts. Mummified remains of ancient Egyptians with dreadlocks have even been recovered from archaeological sites.

The Old Testament also recounts the tale of Samson and Delilah in which a man’s potency is directly linked to ‘the seven locks on his head’ and according to Roman accounts, the Celts were described to have ‘hair like snakes’ Germanic tribes, Greeks and the Vikings are all said to have worn dreadlocks too.

Dreadlocks are a universal phenomenon in the East as well as in the West.
Spiritualists of all faiths and backgrounds incorporate into their paths a
disregard for physical appearances and vanity. And so, throughout the world,
such seekers often cease to comb, cut, or otherwise dress their hair: This
is how “dreadlocks” are born (click here for more info).

Dreads are hair that is knotted, matted, twisted…and uncombed. Stop combing your hair today, and in a year or two, you’ll have some dreads. However, you can help the process along. There are several different ways to make them, but I chose back-combing. Becky separated my hair into random 1″ sections and she used a metal comb to backcomb every section. It took 3-4 hours. I did have the option to use wax (a beeswax concoction) to help them stay together more, but decided against it. This is the method advised by dreadlock megasites Dreadhead HQ and Knotty Boy. However, I have heard way too many horror stories about dreadlocks and wax gone bad. It will take longer for them to “lock up” without the wax, but it’s worth the wait.

One of the main misconceptions about dreads is that if you have them, you can’t wash your hair. This is absolutely untrue. You can wash your hair every day if you want. Of course washing your hair everyday isn’t good even if you don’t have dreads. In the beginning, it’s best to wait at least a week while they mature a bit. However, what I’ve found is that because I’m not using any products at all, my hair stays nice and clean for a long time! Every 2-3 days is more than enough. You can always spray your hair with some yummy essential oils if you feel like it. Peppermint is good.

I have had many people ask me why I finally decided to go for it. Here is the short list:

I like them. I think they look cool.
Profound, I know.

I wanted to simplify my beauty “routine”.
Prior to dreads, I used (and toted around when I traveled):

• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Mousse
• Volumizing Spray
• Comb
• Round brush to straighten my hair
• Blow dryer
• Pomade/Wax
• Hairspray

Now I use:

• Shampoo (Dr. Bronner’s Tea Tree…cheap, all natural, and I can use it for other things)

That is just mind boggling to me. I never realized just how freeing and simplifying having dreads would be. It has been so wonderful not having to “do” my hair everyday. I’ve had less stress…and more time. I use less products…and save more money. Hair products are expensive! Another perk is the added space in the suitcase! I love traveling light.

They are a reminder to me that I am set apart for Christ.
The entire journey is very spiritual. Dreadlocks are rooted in spirituality…back to ancient times. In these last 2 weeks, I have learned so much about myself and who I am in Christ.

• I am learning patience. My dreads will take about 3-6 months to “settle down” and about a year for them to be completely locked up. Dreads are constantly changing and forming. There are lots of photos in this set of dreads I love. Whenever I’m discouraged with them and the process, I go and look at photos of people with mature dreads and I am encouraged.
• I am learning non-judgement. In purposely becoming unlike anyone else around me, I can relate in a new way with those people who feel judged by others.
• I am learning about commitment. Dreads are long-term. If I want them to look how I imagine…it will take time. The same is true with my commitment to Jesus. It takes commitment become to become like Him! Every time I look in the mirror, I am reminded of recent commitments I’ve made to Him.

So there you have it. I’m going to be posting photos of my journey on this Flickr set. It will be fun to watch as they lock up.

About a year ago, I read a great book by Anne Lamott called “Traveling Mercies“. I wrote several quotes from that book in my Moleskin journal and found them recently. I love them and this is a great place to share them:

“No one knew the effort it took to make my hair look like it hadn’t taken any effort at all (p. 234)”.

• This was definitely me BEFORE I dreaded my hair. It took so long for me to get my hair looking like I wanted it. My hair is very fine with no body at all…and it took a lot of coaxing to make it work.

“How much longer am I going to think about my hair more often than about things in the world that matter? (p. 235)”

• So true. Hair is big business. Women (and men) are consumed by it most of the time. How it looks. What color it is. If their mother-in-law approves of the style. I’m not saying I will stop thinking about it…but I really want to focus on other things that are way more important.

“Dreadlocks would be a way of saying that I was no longer going to play by the ‘rules’ of mainstream white beauty…but that I was going to CELEBRATE instead (p. 234)”

• Doesn’t everyone want to CELEBRATE? I do.

The best compliment I’ve gotten came from my sweet daughter, Bella. We were talking recently and out of the blue she said,

“You’re a good mama. These dreads are cute.”

Children always know just what to say to make you smile.

I love dreadlocks. Most of my closest friends know that I would like to have some of my very own. Ideally, I will look like the cute girl in the above photo. I think dreads are:

*gorgeous
*unique
*inspiring
*patience-building
*funky
*maintainence free (after the first year or so)
*a spiritual journey

You can see more cool dread photos on my Flickr Favorites.

So for those of you who didn’t know that I would ever consider such a “crazy” choice of hair style…you can pick your jaw up off the floor now and go buy me a pretty hairwrap. Thanks!