Operation barba rossa (e grigia)

I'm five days into growing a beard -- yesterday is usually the day when I decide that enough's enough, and I hack it off (to the great relief of my wife and my chin). This time, I pushed past the barrier, and I may go further: I'm on vacation, and I have another ten days of liberty.

Also, my parents are visiting; my dad, influenced by the months he and Mom spend each year in Alaska, has grown a beard. I'd never seen him in one before; he grows a good one, but it's still an adjustment. But Dad's presence and unabashed delight in his thick, wise-looking beard has pushed me past the four-day wall.

Why? Several reasons:

• Growing facial hair is still novel to me at the age of forty-two
• Because I can
• It will set me apart: it's not a goatee
  
• I still like to emulate my Dad
• It's handy to stroke pensively, which could be a boon to my fledgling writing career
  
• Independence - my wife doesn't like the idea
  

Why not? Several reasons:

• Not all men look good in beards; naff appearance is a risk
• They itch
• A beard is more practical in the Pacific Northwest than it is in Australia
  
• There's an awkward 'tween stage, what I think of as the Carol Brady stage for people trying to grow their hair long
• It will probably make me look older, which doesn't have the appeal it did when I last grew one, at twenty-two
  
• Ridicule - my wife doesn't like the idea
  

It's coming out with a much greater proportion of grey than I have in the rest of my hair; the five-day spikes are all copper and silver. My hair is either brown or auburn, depending on season and whether I'm in the sun. I've got a few grey hairs, but not a lot yet.

I'm fearful, but curious, that I'll end up with some sort of two-tone deal: Karl Marx or Michael McDonald, without the blowdried look.

Even blogging about it sounds like a commitment. But, either way, I'm guaranteed a new blog topic for at least one more post: there's either a progress report, or a Ship Abandoned message.

Also, there's a Great Beards in History discussion waiting to happen. For example: Greatest goatee in history? I'd have to vote for V.I. Lenin, although Colonel Sanders would be up there too.