BIN-BLOWN HAIR

My niece is graduating from law school and packing up her belongings to move all in the same weekend.  Although this is a practical idea, it does pose a problem ... for her hair.

When we first dropped off my niece at law school, my first reaction was, "Oh my gawd, she's going to Hogwarts!"  Indeed the school, like many New England big-name colleges, does indeed resemble Harry Potter's school of wizardry.  Now that we are back for graduation after all this time, the school still looks like Dumbledore is going to amble by at any given moment.

If that alone isn't proof positive that the law school is really Hogwarts, note the hat my niece must wear.  The mortarboard topper definitely looks like a witch's (or wizards's?) hat.  Yup, she is graduating and becoming the next Professor McGonagall.

This is where the mortarboard hat comes into play.

My niece showers before graduation, which is something completely normal that completely normal people would do completely normally prior to such an auspicious occasion.  However, because my niece is so well packed for her move already, she doesn't have a hair dryer. Still, she does need to secure the mortarboard hat to her head ... just not while her hair is wet.

What to do?

If this were really a Harry Potter film, and if she were really graduating from Hogwarts, we'd be in luck: One quick spell and her hair would be dry.  Regardless of the venue and the cap, though, we really are NOT in a Harry Potter film.

What to do with the graduation ceremony looming?

I notice that some of my niece's packed belongings are in boxes and some are in bins.  Big, giant, beautiful, colorful bins.  I grab a bin cover and start fanning my niece.  After a moment of her hair blowing like a television commercial, my niece flips her head around so I can fan out another chunk of hair.

It may be primitive and somewhat ingenious, but it works.

Congratulations on the degree and the move, all within forty-eight hours, and of course, for having fabulous, bin-blown hair.