Many years ago, I let a couple of friends talk me into wearing makeup on a regular basis. So I had a couple of professional consultations. Bought reams of the stuff.  Way too much of it. It took time in the morning to apply. It took time at night to remove. I could never rub my eyes. No matter what kind of mascara I used, I ended up with racoon eyes. Makeup came off when I blew my nose. My winter coats had makeup on the collars. And my left eye watered nearly every day. I’m sure people thought I was crying.

A little over two years ago, during a hot spell, I was putting on my foundation, lamenting the fact that it was only going to melt off, when I realized I didn’t have to smear cosmetics on my face in order to go to work. My husband didn’t care. So I stopped. I thought I’d stopped just for the summer. But Labor Day came and I was enjoying my freedom from the routine too much. A year went by. Then two.

It was time to toss the stuff. A drawer full of little plastic compacts and tubes…

…became a waste basket full of the same.

The only thing I’ve used for two years is moisturizer and lip balm.

I’m still trying do decide what’s the next thing to go: coloring my hair or bras

My husband and I come from very different backgrounds. He grew up in an apartment in the Bronx. I grew up in rural upstate New York.

His parents sent him to sleep-away camp for two months every summer.

My parents had nieces and nephews.

My husband had color wars with other bunks.

I had cousins. Lots and lots of cousins.

Cousins living next door. Cousins at my grandmother’s farm. Cousins who came from out-of-state to visit every summer. Cousins who visited from the city for week, then I stayed with them in the city for a week.  Cousins (and aunts & uncles) who played marathon games of Annie, Annie Over when the sun was out and Hide-and-Go-Seek after dark.

He has memories of camp.

I still have cousins.

Happy National Just Because Day.

Yes, this is a photo of me, standing on my head, with a tulip in my mouth.

Just because.