Sometimes ya gotta let your freedom flag fly. Teenaged boys - at least when I was one - grew their hair long for several perfectly sound reasons involving loud guitars, trying to be cool and getting girls (that was the hope, anyway). Mostly, it was about driving your old man nuts.

But time passes, you find yourself getting all responsible with a job and family and such, and you get yourself a "respectable" haircut.

Next thing you know, your kids are sporting lime green and shocking pink hair, and you've become "the old man."

Nevertheless, once in a while you'll still see an older guy such as myself with his hair grown well down past his shoulders.

Why?

Simply put, it's because he still can (right Dal?).

But after a while, the novelty begins to fade. You find you can't keep your window down when you're driving without hair whipping your eyes and suddenly you're not enjoying the freedom like you used to.

You also find yourself picking strands of hair off your coat and shedding hunks of your flag everywhere else.

Eventually, your wife tells you that you look like your sister. That's a biggie.

So back in the summer, I was tucking into a second helping at an Indian buffet with one of Surrey's finest, Cpl. Dale Carr, when I mentioned I was thinking about cutting my hair. He suggested that I donate my locks for a cancer wig, like Surrey firefighter Tim Baillie does.

I called Tim, and he turned me on to this outfit in Langley called The House of Miss Rose, where they harvest human hair to make wigs for people who have lost theirs on account of their cancer treatment, being burned, or losing it to a condition called alopecia, also known as spot baldness.

I donated my hair this past Saturday, and it felt great. I'm already starting on the next crop - should be ready in a year or two.

It takes 10 or 12 ponytails to make one wig so donations are always welcome. If you chose to donate your hair, you will be bringing some light into the life of someone who no doubt could use some cheer.

I imagine there are probably other places that accept hair donations as well, but I went to The House of Miss Rose. They've been doing this for years and have a big heart for it. Check out their website, at thehouseofmissrose.com for info and guidelines. Your hair should be at least eight inches long. They also do Pony Drives. Call 'em at 604-533-8874.

The sharp-looking Tom Zytaruk can be reached at tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com

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