Slight Oops leads to New Look

I have had a beard since I was eighteen.

My Mother despised beards of all kinds; she would tolerate mustaches, but she didn't like beards, and every time I would come home from college with facial hair, she would get this look.....

It's hard to describe the look. Imagine the wrath of God on the face of a 4'11' woman. Her eyes would kind of....squint....and her mouth would move to the right, and her head would tilt just a bit. Combined with the crossing of the arms and the desperate attempt to "harumph" like one of the big boys, it was quite a formidable picture.

I can recall with great fondness the time I came home for Christmas sometime in the 90's. Mom still had most of her senses, and I had decided that haircuts were overrated. Long hair, beard.....if it had been just a little warmer, I would have gone with the paisley shirt and some flip flops, in an attempt to induce a stroke.

She gave me the look.

I smiled, and said, "okay, Mom. I'll be here for five days. I'll give you one shot; you can use it now, or save it up. But you only get the one."

She almost smiled, which would have destroyed the illusion of "harumph." And she said nothing.

Until 6 AM the next morning. She threw my door open, and yelled as loudly as she could, "YOU NEED A HAIRCUT!"

And then, she closed the door, and joined my Father in the kitchen.

I could hear my Father chuckling.

My Mother had a sense of humor. And excellent timing.

Yes, I've had many hair lengths, and styles, and I've had facial hair for thirty years, unless some role demanded a chin...and even then, I would barter for the mustache, because I have this mole at the corner of my mouth that I've always been self conscious about.....

Which leads me to today.....

I went into the bathroom, to do the daily ablutions, and reached for the beard trimmer, and took a swipe.....not realizing that the trimmer was bare, and rather than shorten the whiskers, I took them out completely.....

I'm standing in the mirror with half a beard.

So.

It's the season for the goatee, don't you think?