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| At mooring, waiting for the wind... |
Summer has flown by and recently I’ve noticed the bright
green hues of spring have faded as the undergrowth leaves begin to turn
colors. After last year’s drought and terrible
harvest in these parts, the corn stands tall, soybeans are all bushy and apple
trees appear loaded with fruit. It
appears creation is blessing us with a bounty.
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| Me and my beard at the tiller on a light wind day |
This month I’m celebrating a silver anniversary for my
beard! That’s right; it has now been 25
years since a razor has scrapped my cheeks and chins. As I had a few beards before this one, when I
grew the hairs out on a backpacking trip in the Idaho mountains in the summer
of ’88, I had no idea I would have kept it this long, but I don’t have any
plans on shaving it anytime soon, maybe never.
Of course, as I’ve aged, I have found I need to keep the beard
trimmed for when it gets too long the gray spots become too prominent. With the celebrations of my bread, I’ve been
hearing a lot about other beards lately.
On the radio the other day (I think NPR), I learned that Col. Sanders of
Kentucky Fried Chicken fame dyed his beard early on in order to create his
image. Another NPR report discussed beards and
politics in Iran! Then there’s BrianWilson, a pitcher for the LA Dodgers and his beard. And then there is a viral youtube post about
a magic beard that I watched thanks to Sherry, one of my blogging buddies. With
all this media and blogging talk about beards, you’d think there is nothing
important going on in the world such as us sticking our nose into the mess in Syria.
I have always wanted to sail. It seems like it would be so relaxing and calm! I am going to add it to my bucket list. I have had my beard since 2007 and I will never shave it!
ReplyDeleteLet's hope we stay out of Syria, though our government never seems to want to keep out of other folks' business.
ReplyDeleteI forwent growing a beard last winter because of the little one being born and all. I thought it might freak her out a bit. But now that she is older, I'm hoping to grow one this winter especially if the Farmer's Almanac is right about an exceptionally cold winter. I have thought about just keeping it but every spring, I just get an itchy dirty feeling until I shave the thing off.
ReplyDeletePerhaps if I had a magic beard...
I have had a mustache for 45 years but never could grow a proper beard...maybe when I finish puberty.
ReplyDeletei have a bet with my students if 80% of them pass the standardized test, they get to pick the color of my beard for the last 2 weeks of school...looks like i am going lime green if they do good...ha....wonder how long that will take to grow out...smiles.
ReplyDeleteSailing is a long way from being a dweller of the desert. Still what a nice change. Sailing is a wonderful escape. I've not been in many years but loved it when I did it. I switched to kayaking at some point and never sailed again. But it is nearly impossible to stretch out in a kayak and just lie on life jackets and let the rocking boat carry away ones problems...you're a lucky man!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the silver anniversary of being bearded! You wear it well.
Yes that always strikes me too. Someone brought up on a coast sailing and whatnot wants to retire to the spot only slightly wetter that the middle of a fire. Are you training the kid in the finer points of sailing.
ReplyDeleteAfter my posts in April-May about the horror of growing a beard I refused to de defeated and regrew it the following week and still have it. I like it for walking on hills.
Congrats on your one and it's profound longevity.
Happy anniversary to your beard. I like it! It's certainly much better-looking than that magic beard!
ReplyDeleteSailing sounds like fun! I wish I had some time to do that!
This is a new one for me, Sage. A Silver Anniversary for a beard. I thought about ZZ Top. But I digress. I enjoyed the sentence: "It appears creation is blessing us with a bounty." Well said! Have a great weekend!!! :)
ReplyDeleteSailing always seems so serene and relaxing, but there's so much to keep an eye on in the background that I imagine it's not really relaxing until you're an expert (or of course if you're entirely a passenger)
ReplyDeleteHa! If you'd paid me a million dollars, I'd never have guessed that the silver anniversary was for your beard! Congats, my man....may you two continue to enjoy all your life has to offer.
ReplyDeleteYou make sailing sound so peaceful, yet exciting at times as well.
Really the best of both worlds...
Wow 25 years! Now that is quite a savings in time spent not shaving! Your first photo is dreamy! We spent yesterday on the water and it was very windy and the waves a bit too much for the little ones in the water ! So next best thing boat rides or Jet Ski rides! Gotta squeeze what's left of summer out!
ReplyDeleteWow 25 years! Now that is quite a savings in time spent not shaving! Your first photo is dreamy! We spent yesterday on the water and it was very windy and the waves a bit too much for the little ones in the water ! So next best thing boat rides or Jet Ski rides! Gotta squeeze what's left of summer out!
ReplyDeleteAs the proud owner of a "pathetic excuse" for a Russian beard, I feel jealous. It's true that my hairlessness (passed down from my father. Thanks dad!) worked in my favour many times when I was younger. But I always feel I would have loved to have the option of shaving or not shaving. In fact, looking at old portraits of Shakespeare I believe I know where Hamlet's famous phrase came from. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreetings from London.
Happy anniversary! :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't shave for about three or four days over the Labor Day Weekend and was seeing quite a bit of gray in my facial hair. Yikes! Back to shaving every other day for me.
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary. Also, congrats on your Pirates clinching their first non-losing season in quite awhile. Looks like they have a real shot at the Series.
">>>I let my troubles drift along..."
ReplyDeleteI do this, although without the boat, I tend to let things just work themselves out and soon enough a solution presents itself and I've saved myself needless hours of worrying and stress. Of course some troubles need a quicker solution so need to be actively worked on.
A touch of grey in a beard looks quite distinguished as long as the beard isn't overly long or unkempt. There's nothing worse than an unkempt beard, all scraggly and grubby.
Congratulation to your beard! It's lived a long full life and you two have had many great experiences together.
ReplyDelete