It's not a beard

I have this discussion a lot.  It's not that I'm growing a beard, at least no more than any post-puberty male is always growing a beard.  It's just that I'm not shaving right now, they aren't the same.  Or I don't think they're the same, clearly it's not unanimous opinion.  With an electric shaver I went daily, it was easy and the shave wasn't great so I couldn't go longer without some obvious side effects anyways.  When I transitioned to the straight shave I found I could go multiple days before shaving again.  Skipping one day was a max if I wanted a clean look but the shave was so good that I could at least do that, and more if I didn't care too much about stubble.  The problem was when I removed it from my daily routine it got easier to rationalize extra days.

Well all that came in stride until I finished school and couldn't find a job.  I also moved and outside my family still have literally no friends.  Or none within a few hundred miles anyways.  I didn't go to work, school, nor did I go out socially.  The only reason to shave for appearance sake was Church once a week.  Which I quickly transitioned to.  Only I don't make it to Church every week.  I'm not skipping or anything, not directly anyways.  But I take trips (mostly camping trips) that will often go over the weekend and find myself in the woods rather than the chapel on Sundays.  I haven't missed that many Sundays, but when I do that adds a week to my lack of shaving.  I've just finished the longest stretch for me since I started shaving.  I went with my parents on a trip (see below) that covered two Sundays.  The next weekend was general conference, so that was three Sundays missed and I missed each shave with them.  I did finally pick up the blade today but the beard had gotten rather long, to the point I stopped believing the "not growing a beard, just not shaving" argument myself.  Ah well, it's gone now.  Here's a before and after set: