Last night my wife and I attended a winery dinner that's become an annual event for us.  Though the smoke from all the fires in the US Pacific Northwest made the air a bit hazy we still had a great time with great food, terrific wine, and dear friends.  The dinner is held in the vineyard and all the food is cooked in a huge clay hearth out under a beautiful old oak tree.  The winemaker here is one of the people who I've always considered one of my beard inspirations.  Surely that great beard of his has something to do with the outstanding quality of the wine from this tiny estate.  I realized last night that every man who works there has a beard, no wonder their wine is so good!  Here's a picture of, left to right, the winemaker, yours truly, the winery owner, and the tasting room manager

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As you can see, I'm wearing my beard loose with a small braid at the tip, which has become my usual style these days.  Note too that, this being Oregon, even a 'fancy' dinner means sandals and shorts

I had a beard first at this event too.  After the salad by wife, sitting across from me, started making weird faces and was wiping at her face in odd gestures.  After a minute of so of this this winery owner, seated to my left, said, "Tom, look at me."  He then grabbed my beard and picked two pieces of shaved fennel from it smiley: embarassed, saying "The Bearded Brotherhood has your back".  I think it's more that with two daughters, aged 2 and 4, he's more adept at reading spousal signals in this arena than I.  That was the first time a man has ever grabbed my beard and I was too stunned to react.

Just for fun the winemaker, after a glass or two or three, decided to demonstrate opening a bottle of champagne (or, technically, methode champenoise since we aren't in France) by sabering, in which the top of the bottle is removed with a swift blow from a sword.  He executed it as flawlessly as he did the making of the wine in that bottle.

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With that, I celebrate 32 months of beardage!

Cheers!
Tom


Some helpful links:
Library Central of Beard Growing


Taming the Wild Mustache
Tips for eating and drinking with a big mustache

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit. ~ W. Somerset Maugham
A jerk with a beard is just a bearded jerk, but a bearded gentleman is awesomeness personified. ~ Triibeard
Last Edited By: Tom E Aug 26 15 4:57 PM. Edited 1 times.