Big doins’ at Smith Valley’s Beauty Barn

Just prior to Thanksgiving, Orllyene has her hair cut, her nails done and has a pedicure. “I feel so special” she murmurs. This reminds me that I have to have my toe nails trimmed. I am not as limber as I once was, sothe next day I call “Nails By Melissa” at the Smith Valley Beauty Barn. Melissa’s does Manicures, Pedicures, Acrylics, Gels and Art. There is a lot about female grooming I don’t know.

I courage up and call “Nails by Melissa.” “Hi Melissa, it’s me, Orllyene’s husband. My toenails are out of control, do you have time to have a look?” “Let me get my book Ron. (pause) How about Next Wednesday, two o’clock, will that work for you?” and the die is cast.

Melissa is a very take-charge young woman. As soon as I walk into her trendy shop, she motions me over to a small comfortable looking chair with a small tub filled with swirling warm water in front. Melissa then sits on a small bench in front of this array. “Would you like me to help you take off your socks” she asks. Suddenly a twinge of embarrassment flows through me. Heck, I spent years backstage while in showbusiness but decline her offer and pull my ungainly athletic socks off myself and put my feet into the swirling warm water .

When the timing is right, out comes my right foot, which is rubbed dry by Melissa. She then applies a Brummel disk to each toe. “I’m going to remove the mass of nail first and then shorten each nail,” she says. She also applies a small clipper to nip off any offending appendage. By now, I succumb to her expertise.

Melissa is a truly happy sort. She has three dogs and two horses and loves to talk about all of them. “I have a beautiful Corgi, and he broke his ACL and I took him to the Vet. Well of course he had to be operated on, and the fee was $4,000. Wouldn’t you know it he broke the ACL in his other leg. In one year we spent $8,000 on that dog. I got so upset, I renamed him “Vet Bill.”

Out comes the other foot and her animal rhetoric continues. “Here’s a picture of Nevada, the heart of my life. Nevada’s a mustang and recently needed his superficial tendon repaired and that was $5,000 to the Vet. “In one year, we spent $13,000 on our animals” she says but is undeterred in her love for them.

As she is working on me, a woman walks into her shop, and asks if she has any openings before Christmas. By now, I am so relaxed I barely flinch at being discovered having a pedicure.

Ten minutes later, my toe nails are trimmed but Melissa has one more critter on which to expound and shows me a picture. “Sophia is a miniature Dachshund and she likes to ride on our Razor Side Car. She sits right up in front wearing a purple scarf and dark glasses, she says, and that completes my pedicure. Merry Christmas folks.

Ron Walker can be reached at walkover@gmx.com