Bye Bye Beard.

Followed immediately by beard withdrawal.

I haven't picked up a razor since I retired, a little gift to myself, and a simple disguise to make people not try to engage in business-ee conversation while I'm vacationing with the family.

It's worked well.  And been fun.  And even though Alexe was in shock when she got off the plane, within a few hours I heard, "It works for me."

However, as expected, the vacationing has been everything I hoped for, and is now driving me to buzzing thoughts that are interfering with my sleep.  We certainly haven't been sitting still, but a big part of me is now tapping its foot in pent up energy for something, and part of gearing up for whatever that is got me started on taking off the beard.

It feels almost like rolling up your shirt-sleeves.  

(Also, a part of Alexe, her less-core self, had been pestering me for at least a trim.)

We started here:

Went to here, which Alexe reacted to with, "you look like the devil!"

And stopped here for 24 hours.  Still a full beard still, but in a more structured, boring way. 

It made me feel weird, in a middle ground of fake freedom and carefree-ness.

So the next evening, prepping for a date with Alexe, with the kids playing in the tub, I kept going.

We went to this, which the kids loved.

Note the kids loving it.

Then to this.  At this point the kids were crowing about me looking like the Moore boys.

Then this.

Then this.  (Homage to Davis here.)

For funsies we stopped here for a minute or two.

And then it was all gone, and I felt like a kid again.

I mean, come on, does that look like a retired husband and father of two?  Sheesh.

Enough of the navel gazing.  


On our date night in Portland Alexe dragged me into an Urban Outfitters.  While Alexe looked at the pre-shredded clothes, I had fun listening to the very crisp sound system blasting rap, and looking at the way the old bank building had been gutted, rewired, and repurposed, while leaving the exposed guts of the building as texture.  I really liked the mix of elaborate columns and moulding, next to the exposed brick and steel beams.  And their safe was very cool.