To color or not to color...???

at nearly 52 I have my share of gray hair, some unruly some barely seen. I even have a streak on the left side of my head, hidden under my part. I used to color my hair (or highlight as it was called) but got tired of the maintenance. So now I look at myself in the mirror and wonder if I would look younger with more blond/gold/tawny brown highlights - the answer is unquestionably.... Of Course! But do I really want to go back to that? As it is now nearly spring it always seemed like an appropriate time to freshen up my appearance. And we can always use a little help to look younger, can't we?

I just came back from a haircut so these thoughts are running around in my head. I wanted a shag cut (remember those from the early 70's?) but she was adamant in talking me out of it, don't have the right kind of hair... too much work to get it looking good, etc. I'm sure she was totally right but I wanted something different.

When I lived in Philadelphia where the humidity in the summer could be nearly 100% I went to the hairdresser one Saturday and came out with my hair looking good, full of "product". Within a very short time all the hairspray seemed to have melted on my head, leaving me with a sticky mess. YUK! So I hardly use product anymore, though I did leave the hairdresser today with some volumizer and hairspray. Amazing what we'll do to look good.

My mom has colored her hair for as long as I remember. At nearly 80 she finally decided to quit the coloring cold turkey. Now her head is all gray and she really looks great. I really don't want to end up with a 30 year habit of coloring.

So my question is.... to color or not to color....?