No Shave November & Squinting

It’s been some time since I participated in No Shave November. I’ve had a goatee since the late 90’s. The goatee came about because of a car accident. I was hit head on and broke my collar bone in the accident. I didn’t shave for a month and when I was finally able to, I wanted to see what the goatee looked like. I liked it, and I’ve had it ever since.

I guess it was about 2002 that I first decided to see what the full beard looked like. I grew it in November and shaved it off in January. I did that for a few years and eventually stopped. Some people said it made me look old, mean, and scary! Ha! I was happy not growing it out any more, because trying to get through the first week or two of it coming in drove me crazy! It is so itchy!

At any rate, around Halloween, Sam suggested that I grow it out, just to see if she liked it. So here we are 20+ days later and it’s coming in. I will never let it become a “Duck Dynasty” beard, but I will keep it trim. One difference this time around is that I’ve been shaving my head. So I am bald on the top and now have the beard. I’m still getting used to the way it looks. I’ve always liked the way a beard looked, but with the shiny top, it looks a whole lot different.

Another difference this time around is that there is a LOT more grey in my beard. So much that I actually thought of getting that beard color! I won’t buy it, but I thought about it! The baby will look at me funny and rub her hands on the beard trying to make sense of just what the heck is on my face! Sam says she likes the way it looks. I will probably shave it off again after the holidays, like I used to, but for now it stays.

If I could, for a joke, I’d do my mustache like this guy …. but then, I’d probably be sleeping on the couch….

Getting Old

The grey beard makes me look older. Sometimes when I see it, it makes me feel older. You know what else makes me feel older? My eyes. I am finding myself squinting a lot lately!

I had Lasik surgery years ago. I was told that when I “got older” I might need reading glasses. It was one thing that the surgery at the time couldn’t fix. I have noticed lately that as I am working it is hard to read the patient charts. I am also finding it difficult to read my Bible. I have these dumb readers, but I guess I am going to have to finally cave in and go get my eyes checked.

The last time I had them checked was probably 5 years ago. They mentioned something that they wanted to “keep an eye on” and perhaps whatever it was is now a problem. I’m really hoping it is just something that prescription readers can take care of. We’ll see…