To beard or not to beard..
NOVEMBER 12, 2007 (MONDAY) – O.K., for those of you who missed it, this is the way I looked when I tried out a beard, in 2004. Those who didn’t miss it, don’t miss it. Neither do I. My whiskers have developed some changes that make it hard to shave well. I had always wanted to see what it might look like, so I gave it a try.
I thought part of it looked nice, and I enjoyed having a chin, but the mustache drove me crazy. It had inherent problems for me in the way it grew and irritated my lip, and my chronic allergies and daily bout with the allergy symptoms created a scenario that I simply will not discuss here in polite company. So, I took a few pictures with my toy digital camera, and shaved.
Actually, a beard can serve a very useful purpose if you happen to be a boat captain in the North Sea, or a pipeline worker in Alaska. But what am I? A potenial beach bum in a semi-tropical climate.
Who knows? When I am no longer interim pastor, I may just forget to shave. But I’ll probably adopt the style of Moby Dick’s Captain Ahab, leaving the upper lip free of coffee stains.
I saw a cute cartoon last Friday in the “Bizarro” comic strip. The scene was a track around a football field, and the event was the 100 yard dash. All the participants were busy passing the time of day with the workers at the track, talking with fellow runners, or visiting with people in the stands. No one was running. The announcer was saying, “Welcome to the fourth day of the Friendly Retired Guy hundred yard dash.” Now, that’s my idea of the way to race. Not much chance of getting your feet tangled up in your beard.
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(In 1973 I tried a mustache for our church’s centennial). View image”