Gentlemen,

It has been far too long since I updated with a formal progress image, so here is one from early to mid-October (2015). At 11 inches from the crease in my lower lip, this length is very likely the longest my beard has ever been or likely to get for a while. It may be long, but it clearly isn't dense, and it's quite easy to see right through it. This is how it looks after blowing it dry with a dab of Admiral Red Beard's Beard Balm. There hasn't been a trim of any kind for longer than I remember (probably several months) and even more time since the sideburns were touched. The longest hairs at the bottom of my beard come from the neck area between my neck and behind my chin.

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A bit of playing with Tangled FX resulted in this...

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Any resemblance to a pumpkin on a pile of steel wool is merely coincidental.

Thanks to a shipment from Admiral Red Beard of some experimental beard wax pearls, my learning-disabled recalcitrant dyslexic sea lion of a wannabe walrus moustache finally has been wrangled into a more disciplined and orderly shape. Just goes to show that one must never give up on training, and even the most difficult of students can be turned from his wild ways.

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The annual Nevada Day Beard Contest, held on a spectacularly beautiful Saturday, October 31st, has now come and gone. Every entry in the Whitest Beard category was a winner, but there were only three prizes, and none of them went home with me this time. It was still great fun, and it was a delight to once again be in the company of some amazing bearded gentlemen of every color, shape, length, and style.

This year we learned that the judges were given quite specific instructions on what to look for in each category. Here you see two of the three checking their notes while yours truly waits in the background...

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Their considerations included natural color, length, style, density, balance, and who knows what else. I still have some full-length dark brown "racing stripes" in my beard that are visible on close examination, and I know the judges were able to find some pure white beards in the field of candidates. 

There were whiter, wider, longer, and fuller white beards in the running, and every one was amazing in their own right...

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As we walked off after the judging of our category, I reconnected with the gentleman just ahead of me in the flag-striped shirt who was the Third Place winner next to me last year. He had grown longer and wider this year as well, but he didn't take home a plaque or ribbon this year either. Even so, we both commented on how much fun the anticipation and the participation are each year.

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Of course, the best part of every Nevada Day is getting to celebrate the beauty and fun of the day and go home with Lady Triibeard. Not a trophy on earth could exceed the joy in that. And I get to enjoy that every day of the year...

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So now comes the long-forestalled trim. Fear not, for I shall still be in Long Beards for the foreseeable future. I'll trim to even up the margins and take off the thinnest part of the length, but nothing too drastic.

Oh, yes... LEGO-Sheriff Triibeard did return from Germany in just the nick of time for the Beard Contest, however, due to his diminutive stature, he seems to have been overlooked in the competition. Like all the participants, he enjoyed the day immensely. At least he won't be coveting my award ribbon like he did last year after we got home. As far as I can tell, he behaved himself and did not jump into anyone's beverage (as he was known to do in Germany recently). I've been so busy with work and family responsibilities lately that I haven't even had time to debrief with him after his journey to Bremen, Germany, with our good friend Dantes. It was a surprise to see him back already, but I saw a sudden flash in his work room, and there he was! I look forward to hearing all about his trip (and learning how he got back so fast!).

Triibeard's Thirty-NINE years of being bearded    (The recent journey from a short- to a long-beard)
Introducing LEGO-Sheriff Triibeard     (The origin story for our polymeric polychromatic hero)
Sheriff Triibeard and The Case of the Missing Beard Balm   (In search of that scoundrel RiffRaff)
Sheriff Triibeard and the Hermit Hoarder    (Consequences of acquisitiveness)

In a world of shorn faces, it is our privilege to offer those around us the exquisite opportunity to know a gentleman with a beard.
Last Edited By: Triibeard Nov 2 15 1:40 AM. Edited 1 times.