What is the best way to maintain long?
Topics: How to Maintain Long, What are some examples of how people in history have maintained their long?, Why do you want to maintain your length?, How can someone learn more about maintaining their own long?
Long hair is a popular hairstyle that many people are trying to maintain. The “how to maintain long hair male” article will give you tips on how to keep your hair healthy and long.
Editor’s note: James “Uncle Buzz” Surwilo contributed this guest article.
“A friend is someone who helps you when you need it and helps you when you need it.” Life is a sweeter, stronger, fuller, more gracious thing for the friend’s existence, whether he be near or far: if the friend is close at hand, that is best; but if he is far away, he is still there, to think of, wonder about, hear from, write to, share life and experience with, serve, honor, admire, and love.” –From Arthur Christopher Benson’s poem “Friendship,” published in 1908.
Mike and I grew up in suburban Connecticut in neighborhoods that were about a quarter-mile apart, but in the parochial world of childhood, it was as far off as the other side of the moon. The “Three Lakes” kids were a bit louder, a little more bold, and there were a few too many of them since many of them hailed from second-generation Catholic homes. Mike is a year younger than me, and we rode the same bus in junior high — now known as “middle” — school, but I only have a hazy memory of him breaking up with the rambunctious Three Lakers at the rear of the bus, while I sat in the relative safety of the seat behind the driver.
Early in high school, we formally met via a common acquaintance. That was so long ago that I’m not sure what attracted us together, and I can’t speak for Mike, but I’m sure it was the same characteristics I noticed in Mike that I still admire: character, humility, intellect, humor, compassion, and integrity.
As fate and peculiar district borders would have it, around 195 of the 200 or so students who graduated from my junior high school went to one high school, while I and four other unfortunate souls went to another. We were forced into a room with 1,500 strangers who all appeared to know one other for years. I was overweight, shortsighted, unathletic, and socially paralyzed due to my introversion. Mike went to the other high school, got decent marks without putting in a lot of work, fit in without being cliquish, and had friends and – unthinkable to me — girls. Mike might have justified turning his back on me, given our enormous social strata in high school and its frequently severe limits, and we could have easily drifted away. He, on the other hand, did not.
My parents had a large, albeit a bit scruffy, second house in Vermont called Really Livin’, which helped. Mike was a regular visitor, and it became a magnet for friends and family. We took several road trips to Vermont after getting our driver’s licenses, for skiing in the winter and hiking, fishing, or simply being country boys in the summer. These travels not only solidified our relationship, but they also piqued our interest in environmental protection, which has now become both of our professions.
Mike may have saved my life on one of these outings, but that is an exaggeration. But I’m not sure what would have happened if he hadn’t responded when I swallowed a full length of red shoestring licorice without chewing, so that one end was in my stomach, one end was still in my mouth, and the remainder was somewhere in the middle. I was bug-eyed and coughing because I couldn’t swallow or hack it up. Mike reached inside my mouth, grabbed the stub end, and yanked like a lawnmower starter. Even if it’s just Mike, with a knowing smile, reminding me to chew my spaghetti thoroughly, I can still recall the unpleasant sensation of three feet of licorice traveling back up my esophagus, and nearly every time Mike and I have gotten together since, some reference to the Shoestring Licorice Incident has come out, even if it’s just Mike, with a knowing smile, reminding me to chew my spaghetti thoroughly.
Mike went to college in Connecticut, while I moved about a little before completing my education in Vermont. Many high school friendships have died as a result of going to college. After Thanksgiving or Christmas break, it’s discovered that the connections that formerly held individuals together have loosened; that lifestyles are diverging, and high school was so…high school. Despite the fact that Mike and I were separated by hundreds of miles and pursued different educational routes, our relationship remained. Both of us, I believe, were aware of the significance of the link that had developed.
Mike relocated to Virginia shortly after graduating from college, where he now lives, but I’ve made my home in Vermont. Both of us are married with children who are no longer children. In reality, “Uncle Mike” is the godfather of my son Doug, which is another aspect of our relationship. Mike and I both have jobs, bills to pay, lawns to mow (and blog pieces to write!) and are very involved in our respective communities. Despite our 40-year separation and mostly different lifestyles, we contact each other often, chat on the phone frequently, and, most significantly, visit each other at least once or twice a year.
When Mike and I finally get together, even if it’s been a year, there’s an instant comfort in each other’s company — no awkwardness, no personality shifts to cause concern (our wives would say it’s because we’re both trapped in adolescence), no ideas that maintaining in contact was becoming unimportant. Mike knows me inside and out, so I can let my guard down, be myself without adapting to the situation, and just enjoy the company.
Mike and I visit each other’s houses and families once or twice a year, or organize trips to do “guy things.” There is no contract, no tight calendar that drives our frequent get-togethers; it’s just a desire to see each other that drives us to visit each other’s homes and families. When time and obligations permit, we’ll choose a location that interests both of us — which isn’t difficult to find. We adore the outdoors and esoteric history, seek out unusual locations, and avoid anything that advertises itself as a tourist attraction. Is it a run-down rust belt town or a forgotten swamp? Let’s get started!
Doug would regularly join me on vacations to see Uncle Mike until recently, when he moved to California. After an immobilizing 6-inch snowfall (known as a “dusting” in Vermont), the three of us hiked around Washington, D.C., mountain biked in West Texas, kayaked through spring-fed Florida rivers, and found ourselves exploring spooky old buildings, invariably once — and possibly still — occupied by the infamous “Ol’ Man Crenshaw.” Our light urban exploration allows for terrific, spontaneous fun at the moment, as well as embellished (as Mark Twain would say) tales to trade afterwards.
Mike and I can be blunt or abrasive without inflicting damage or even fearing it. We have the ability to make each other weep with laughter, even when we are completely sober. Mike, as he should, always sees my point of view, so we can discuss politics without hostility. Ha! We are both extremely concerned about the status of our perplexing society, but we can also laugh at the ridiculousness of the human situation, especially our own. Mike had leased a backhoe to undertake some site work on his property the previous time I visited him, knowing I was coming. I continued to use the machine to utterly destroy his yard, but Mike remained cheerful throughout. God alone knows how much the backhoe cost to rent, and how many hours of manual effort it will take to restore the post-apocalyptic devastation caused by my rudimentary machine operator abilities, but we had a blast!
“What makes for a long-term, long-distance friendship between men?” I kept thinking while I wrote this essay. To begin with, there are many parallels to what makes for a healthy relationship, whether romantic or platonic: shared interests and beliefs, mutual respect, thoughtfulness, and admiration for the other person, as well as differences and similarities. Distance, family duties, neighboring friends, PTA meetings, weekend chores, job, and even money may all contribute to the deterioration of a once strong connection. However, everything good takes a little work and a reorganization of priorities. Having a close friend and spending time with him is much more valuable to me than any imagined short-term hardship. I’d like to believe, and am grateful for, that Mike shares my sentiments.
Graduation season is among us once again, and high school and college friends are saying their goodbyes, just as Mike and I did many decades ago. Making close relationships as an adult has proven to be much more difficult than I had anticipated as a teenager. While I can count on one hand the number of males I’ve actually connected with in the previous 30 years, my wife’s network of friends has increased dramatically in the same span. So, when you bid goodbye to your childhood pals and go on new adventures, think about how you can keep in contact. You won’t be sorry for putting in the effort, and you’ll probably discover, as Mike and I did, that a best friendship is worth keeping.
Long hair can be difficult to maintain. The article will discuss how to keep long hair healthy and provide some tips.
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