Steeped Shaved in Tradition

L1 had his district meet for varsity swimming yesterday. This was his chance to earn his letter jacket in swimming. He had to get at least in the top 6 to move onto regionals and earn his letter. Here he is on the blocks and ready to go in the 100 Free.



You would think that I was up on the blocks to compete because I get a major adrenaline rush and feel like I am going to throw up when I see him standing up there. He was just out-touched my the swimmer next to him for 4th place, but he got 5th place, a new personal record time, his letter jacket AND he gets to go to regionals! He was so excited and I was super excited for him.

Here he is with his good friend E, who also managed to get his letter in the same event, finishing just behind L1.




After all the meets it is a tradition for the boys to go to Cici's for some major pizza chowing down time. After that they went to one swimmer's house for celebration and when L1 came home, this is what he looked like!!













My jaw dropped to the floor. I mean, he isn't even going into the military or anything. All the beautiful, crunchy, bleached and damaged swimmer hair....gone! And, oh my, the ears, and the nose. Does lack of hair always make those features more, shall I say, noticeable? I am told it is absolutely necessary to do this as it has been tradition as long as anyone can remember and of course, it helps them win at regionals. Whatever, I am just glad it will grow back soon. Until then, I think I'm going to buy him a cool selection of hats!