The 127th good thing about Lagos: Back in the States, missing the colorful and interesting African headwraps

I've really been enjoying being back in Houston, but there are also some things about Lagos that I miss. One thing I miss about Lagos is the freedom I have there from high gas prices. Here I just have a big truck to drive around, and filling it up is getting very pricey. Also in Lagos I don't have to worry about car maintenance. Here in Houston, I have to deal with oil changes, car inspections, new tires and repairs when things go wrong. The air conditioning went out in the truck yesterday and with the summer temperatures here, I didn't waste any time getting it in to be repaired today. I stashed my bike in the back of the truck when I dropped it off and got my exercise biking home and along my favorite bike trail through the reservoir area. I've biked there a number of times since I've been home and each time I am thrilled by the experience and freedom of cycling through a natural area. This is a freedom I don't have in Lagos. I always see a lot of wildlife -- today for the third time I saw deer -- 2 parents and 2 small spotted fawns. I also saw a small cute armadillo right beside the trail (much cuter than the smashed armadillo guts I veered around when cycling down the road a few minutes earlier!). I always see lots of rabbits, snakes, egrets, an occasional blue heron (saw a gorgeous one today) and today there was a bright red bird convention. I saw more beautiful red birds -- most looked like red tanagers, but there was at least one cardinal -- than I've ever seen on that trail. That was really fun.

Though there's more color and variety biking along the trail here in Houston, there is less color in the women's dress at church. I'm going to do a few posts where I show some pictures in the collection I started of women's head wraps in Lagos. I really love to see all the beautiful things that these women do with their head scarfs.

This first picture is of a contest at our company holiday party last December. They gave women pieces of this stiff fabric that they use for head wraps and had a contest to see the best and fastest wrap maker. It was pretty impressive how fast they could wrap this fabric into a really neat headpiece.

This next picture is of a couple of the beautiful women at the company holiday party.

Ooh -- I can't remember the name of this next beautiful mom pictured -- this was after church this spring. But her solemn son is named Temple and the children in Primary were celebrating his first birthday this day.

This next picture was someone I don't know at Stake Conference. I loved her head wrap so I asked to take her picture.

And then there's more women at Stake Conference. Sometimes head wraps are coordinated with the dress, but other times they are not matched at all. Either way, I love to see the many styles and colors. They are as bright and cheery as the red birds on my Houston bike trail. Here in Texas, some women are known for their big hair -- in Lagos it's the big head wrap that gets noticed!