never judge a book by its cover

Well I’m glad we’re finally coming out of winter as spring appears to beckoning. It’s great to see crocuses and daffodils beginning to shoot up and some colour returning to the land. I’m sure they’ll still be a twist in the tail with one final cold spell but it’ll be nice to wave goodbye to those battleship skies and welcome back some warming sunshine. For most of the winter we’ve been holed up indoors with colds and flu ‐ Poor Julie’s been hammered by a combination of both. Although we’re both a pair of resolute souls (she’s my career and everything in a nutshell) this illness malarkey can knock you sideways somewhat making you feel a bit lethargic. Luckily, we’ve got two dogs to break any cabin fever and we’d gone to Dawlish one day to dust of those cobwebs for a bracing walk down by the Warren, where I bumped into a mate of mine. We hadn’t seen each other for a few weeks so we swapped notes and arranged to hook up in the near future as a wintery squall sandblasted us. Before going our separate ways he jokingly remarked that I was looking like Robinson Crusoe.

He had a point, after weeks of relative hibernation I was taking on the look of a wild man. Normally Julie will shear my hair and beard (if I’ve got one) like I’m a sheep every couple of months. That suits me fine, but later after looking in the mirror, knowing spring was round the corner I thought I’d spruce myself up a bit and pop down to Sidwell Street to one of those Middle Eastern Barbers for a taper and fade and trim of the old salt and pepper matter. From experience, I’d visited Istanbul once and had gone to a Hamman and its adjoining barber and had never felt cleaner or more shorn in my life, so I was looking forward to a bit of pampering and  wasn’t to be disappointed. Arras my barber for the day was from Erbil in Kurdistan but had come to Exeter eight years previously as a Refugee with his family.The Civil War must have been terrifying as he told me in perfect English that he was glad to be living in such a safe and beautiful city, after facing so much trauma. I was well impressed by his drive and positive outlook on life but it was his hair cutting skills which really stood out. I gave him a free run on the styling and he just went to town with different shavers, scissors and razors and even singed all the hairs from my ears. I came out feeling like a new man and looking a lot better for it too and all for the cost of a pony (£25). I’ll definitely be back to see Arras. His service was excellent as was his candid appraisal of life which was both educational and enlightening. As I paraded like a peacock on the way home – proud of my new look, I thought how close the worlds problems can be to us. Sometimes it only takes a little empathy and understanding or chatting to a neighbour (or a barber) to learn so much – it can really open your eyes.