As I was on sick leave from work and ill from Sunday onwards, I didn’t shave for three days and infact didn’t even take a shower for these three days. Feeling a lot better this morning and deciding to go to work, I eagerly went to the bathroom and stripped naked and then applied oil on my hair and scalp. The water from the shower was so welcome and I washed thoroughly with my soap. 20 minutes under the shower, I then shampooed my poor hair which had become so sticky with 3 days of no showers. Satisfied that I had done all I could to be presentable, I then closed the shower tap and moved to the washbasin for a shave.

I rubbed my hand over my now 4 day worth of ‘beard’ and wondered if I should just leave it as it is and try to grow a full beard. Tempting but the company wouldn’t like an AM coming in with a 4 day stubble. Plus unless it’s a full beard, stubble leaves me looking like a druggie, tired and haggard. Even more so when I am clean shaved! So I applied the lather and started shaving. Wait a minute! Why not go for a goatee – a French beard or vandyke beard (mustached & with the beard only on the chin) whatever the hell it’s called. The last time I kept a French beard was when I was 26, 8 years ago. Plus my mustache connects nicely with the beard and looks quite neat. So I only shaved the rest and kept the mustache and beard around the chin and then washed away the lather to take a closer look in the mirror.

Oops, I did not wash the lather completely…..wait a minute! That’s not shaving cream! I have a think line of white hair on my beard. My stubble is white or gray which ever you prefer. I have a little salt in my otherwise prominent pepper. It’s almost a straight line right on the chin – kinda like someone wanted to sniff cocaine off my chin! I was surprised that there’s that line; the last time I  had checked it was only two hairs on my beard. I’m graying! I do not know which is worse, balding or graying at this age! Heck I’ll take a little gray over losing hair. A little shock in the morning. Well I went clean shaven to counter act it.

Funny thing is I can’t see any gray in my hair and no one else can either. I’ve got that thin line of gray if I grow my beard a bit and oh yes gray nose hair! These along with the balding are my signs of aging. Sigh!