I figure it is about time for a real post. I know everyone has been anxiously waiting for “seniors in transition” to officially blog, so, here it is.

By request, this blog is dedicated to my (Nick) beard. I would describe my beard as both mythic and the real deal. Before we get into the enchanting story of my beard I would like to go through a quick history of the beard. So ready yourselves for the ride that is… THE BEARD.

The beard is the hair that grows on the chin, cheeks, and neck. The study of beards is called pogonology. This stems from the Greek, pogon, meaning beard. Since time began, men with facial hair have been ascribed various attributes such as wisdom, sexual virility, or high status. In the ancient world such as Egypt and Mesopotamia, high ranking men dressed their faces with beards. In Mesopotamia, they would often devote great care such as oiling and dressing their beards. Grecian beards were curled with tongs to create hanging curls. Beards predominated among the Greeks and Macedonians until around 332 B.C. when Alexander III ordered his army to be clean shaven because he feared that the enemy could use the beard as a handle.

In ancient India and Israel beards were grown long which symbolized wisdom. Beards were revered in the ancient world and punishment for actions like adultery was to have the offenders beard publicly cut off. There was sacred regard for the preservation of their beards and in some cases the man might pledge it for the payment of a debt. It was custom among the Romans to consecrate the first growth of a young man’s beard to some god. During times of grief and mourning Romans would also let their hair and beards grow out.

Some little tidbits about beards:

• To westernized Russia, in 1698 Peter the Great levied a tax on beards!!!
• Before Abraham Lincoln, no US President had a beard and no President since Benjamin Harrison has worn a beard
• It is illegal for amatuer boxers to have beards
• The Beatles all sported beards during the bands last days

Some quotes:

• “There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless — boys and women — and I am neither one.” -Greek saying
• “The beard is the handsomeness of the face, and a wife is the joy in a man’s heart.” – R’ Akiva, Eicha Rabbah
• “How womanly it is for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, and to arrange his hair at the mirror, shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them!…For God wished women to be smooth and to rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane. But He adorned man like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him as an attribute of manhood, with a hairy chest–a sign of strength and rule.” St. Clement of Alexandria, 2.275

Ok, now for my beard. I have been growing my beard since August and I think that it has grown quite well. I believe that I have become much wiser since growing my beard as well. My beard is like a dream catcher, it snatches wisdom out of the air. My beard is curly and full of might. I no longer get carded at restaurants and I think it’s because my beard has Jedi powers. Why else wouldn’t servers ask for my ID? These are just a few secrets about my beard. I can’t really go into the other ones because I don’t want to give away all my secrets, my beard might turn on me. The only reason I get through the day is because of my beard. It gives me what I like to call the 4 D’s: Determination, Drive, Direction, and Destiny ( I know the last one doesn’t make sense but that is because you don’t have a beard and wouldn’t understand). Some of my future beardly goals include: to house nesting birds, connect the hair from my bellybutton to my beard, tie a bead around it like Dumbledore, world peace, and donate it to locks of love. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be the man I am today without my beard. I wake up every morning thanking God for the gift of my beard. Hope you enjoy the first real post of “seniors in transition”.

Signed

Nick