Bye-bye beard: The end of No-shave November 2020

Though 2020 has been everything but usual, I did my usual thing in November by participating in No-shave November, my seventh straight year. After turning my calendar to December this morning, I gladly trimmed and shaved the 30 days of red and gray growth off my face.

As usual, I shaved my neck all month. I also shaved the top of my cheeks twice and did not do a horrible job either time.

Growing a beard was not too bad this year. My beard never made me uncomfortable, never made me itch and wish I could rip it off, as it has in the past. But there is usually a point in the month when I’m done with it, can’t wait to shave, and I reached that point last week—which is pretty late. One of the most satisfying things about No-shave November is the sensual experience of my trimmer mowing through the densely packed hair on my chin. The feel, the sound, the smell! Oh my, that’s good stuff! I thought about it a lot the last few days and relished the experience today.

What’s noteworthy this year is the fact that the patches of gray hair on my chin have gotten bigger, and there are more stray grays along my jawline. I’m cool with it ... in a certain way. It’s sad that my auburn beard is turning gray, that there will be less and less red every year, but I’m not going to stop it from happening, not going to hide or color it. I just may not grow a beard.

Seriously, though, I’m questioning whether to continue participating in No-shave November, and bigger patches of gray hair have nothing to do with it. Having a beard is not horrible, but it annoys me. And I love shaving. Yes, I love shaving, which is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a while. Though I do shave during No-shave November, I don’t shave my whole face, don’t get the full experience. I get more joy out of shaving than I do growing a beard. Also, I’m unsure how me growing a beard raises awareness about cancer, especially prostate cancer. The Foxy Lady thinks No-shave November is a way I torture myself for no good reason, and she’s right. She recently said I would do much better if I donated money for cancer research or talked to someone about prostate cancer ... and she’s right.

Is this the end of my No-shave November tradition? Perhaps. I’ve thought the same thing in the past but continued doing it, but I like the idea of shaving in November, of continuing to use all my fall seasonal shaving soaps (and I have way too many). If I don’t do it, I will certainly miss the experience of mowing down my chin hair.