Mark's Novem-Beard

Last month, before we had our baby and all, Mark was contacted by a group on campus and invited to participate in a No Shave November charity fundraiser. Mark can grow a very nice beard. For a number of years there, he started a beard some time in September, and wore it all winter - a la Pa Ingalls:

OK, it never got THAT long and scary - he always shaved it off by March, and kept it nice and trimmed all winter long, but you get the idea (yes, that really is a picture of Charles Ingalls)

A beard adds about ten years and two college degrees to Mark's appearance. It was fun, and we would tease him how his goatee was mostly white. During the Christmas break one of those times, Shiloh begged to be allowed to style his beard. She did a rather fabulous job, I thought:

I think it was that same winter that Eliza was the baby. He had his beard all that winter, and she loved to play with it, and laughed so hard when he tickled her neck with his whiskers. (Was she not the cutest little munchkin?)

Mark shaved in the Spring, as usual. And then Eliza wouldn't let him hold her for two days after that.

Anyway, it's been about five years since he's had a beard. He's had a string of callings in the Church that lend themselves to a more, uh, shall we say "clean-shaven" appearance? Mark still hates shaving, and drags it out as long as possible, but he always shows up for meetings on Sunday morning all clean cut and hairless. Needless to say, this Novem-Beard thing was right up his alley. Of course he said yes. And promptly quit shaving.

The deal with the fundraiser was this: take a "before" photo and submit it. Then take a "beard progress" photo every Thursday. The photos would all be posted, and the students could vote for their favorite beard-in-progress by dropping a donation in that particular box (or something like that).

So, here is Mark's "before" photo:

We didn't actually take one on purpose, he just cropped it out of the family photos from that weekend with his family. And here is the photo from No-Shave No-Vember, Week One:

Personally, I think he looked a little untrustworthy in that one, maybe like a seedy car salesman. But his beard comes in pretty fast, and it was more respectable by the second update:

We were all having fun with the Return of Facial Hair, as it had been such a long time. I'm not sure what's up with the facial expressions, though...

OK, that last one - Week Three - makes him look a little like a lumberjack. Notice the bags under his eyes: this photo was taken when Baby Aurora was two weeks old. And holy cow! If we thought his goatee had been white before, it's darned near snowy now. Of course, The Beard went along as part of Thanksgiving weekend. My brother, Wilson, was rather jealous. He said he has always wanted to do the No-Shave No-Vember thing, but couldn't because of work or other concerns...although, at 18, I'm not sure if it would be a beard or an embarrassment. We were all talking about the concept, and one of the ladies said she wanted to be part of No-Shave No-Vember. There was an awkward moment, while we all tried to visualize feminine participation, and then decided that was precisely why it was specified as "Novem-Beard".

Mark was joking that the white in his beard was just showing his "goodness level", and how much it has gone up in the last several years. Pretty soon, you see, his goodness level will be up to his ears...and beyond (if he doesn't go all the way bald, first!). But if he shaves it off, how will we know where his goodness level is?

And here is the final beard shot, taken on Tuesday, Novem-Beard 30th.

Who won the contest? I have no idea. If they are judging for classy looks or if there is a category for multicolored beards, Mark surely has a chance.