On beards, the manly mane and bane

If anyone has noticed my new profile picture, it shows me with a month-long gray beard. I allowed it to grow mainly because my razors were having an increasingly difficult time dealing with it. After it got long enough I noticed that I seemed to receive more respect. That was not unwelcome, but there was a downside to it also.

You see, little Linnea, about 15 months old came to see us, and, after having known me all her short life as clean-shaven, the new appearance put her off. She just could not face my face. Not wanting to frighten my little granddaughter, I decided to shave it off. More accurately, I used machine clippers, then shaved the rest. The result was pretty stubbly.

The beard itched anyway, but, it grows naturally. It is a man's natural state. It sure is a nuisance though. Lynnis can't find my Double Duck straight razor, so I'm condemned to finding an alternative. I'm thinking of an old style double edge razor available on special order. They don't clog.

I don't know how people like Chris and Quick tolerate their long beards for long. What did people do before razors were invented ?

On beards, shaving and haircuts

My beard seems to be getting tougher or maybe the razors are going down in quality. I have a Quadratrac, but it clogs. The Bic disposables went down in quality for a while, but are improving again. I'm thinking about returning to a straight razor. Jon once gave me a DoubleDuck, a quality variety of straight razor. I must find it and try it again. But then I will need to find the strop. The strop is a piece of leather used for working off the wire burr at the very tip of a recently sharpened straight edge. As any metallurgist knows, it is impossible to cut metal without leaving a burr somewhere.

The option of doing nothing doesn't work either because my beard itches. Maybe I could try shaving every day, then it would not get so long as to clog the razors. What a novel idea.

I solved the problem of haircuts. I just grab a bunch of hair and cut it. The appearance is not so great but it works.