To Shave or Not to Shave

When I showered this morning, I decided not to shave since I would be working outside around the house and probably wouldn't see anyone until dinner time, when I would shower again and shave then.

Ran into friend at the Post Office.  He hadn't shaved, nor had the guy in line behind me.  Took a phone call on the sidewalk outside the PO - next two guys to pass hadn't shaved, one heavily bearded, probably hasn't shaved in months.  Woman passed to collect her mail - couldn't tell if she had shaved. (I'm guessing not.)

Stopped at a retail store. Clerk needed a shave (and Proactiv).  State Trooper was getting coffee - he was sharp as a tack - pants perfectly creased, hair perfectly groomed, smelling of Stetson Cologne. Clean shaven like a barber did it ten minutes before with an old fashioned hand held straight blade and hot towel.

Checked emails and the internet for news.  Ashton Kutcher, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Zac Efron all unshaven for their paparazzi pixs.  Some with their dates on a night out, so it's not like they forget to shave.

In NYC, where I worked for all those years in those corporate skyscrapers, I scraped my face every day, without exception - Saturday and Sunday, too.Maybe skipped a day or two while on a Caribbean vacation, but day after day, year after year, never missed a day behind the razor.  As my career escalated, so did the razor: from one blade to quatro micro adjusting swivel four blade head self lubricating with titanium power vibrating handle.

Now in the GNC, its back to disposable Bics, when I bother to shave at all. Come to think of it,  I'll skip the dinner time shave today and see how I feel in the morning.

Start at Alpine Garden in Windham...

...proceed north for a short distance on Route 296.  Make a left onto Route 23 and drive a short distance to County Route 21,  Mitchell Hollow Road. Turn right and enjoy the scenery as Mitchell Hollow rolls up for two or three miles, past homesteads, horse farms, fields of wild flowers and abandoned shacks. Make a left onto County Route 10 and catch your breath, because you will become breathless over the next few miles.  County Route 10 skirts Mt. Pisgah State Forest,  then Ashland Pinnacle State Forest, then Huntersfield State Forest before it meanders down into Prattsville. Go slow the entire distance on Route 10 so as to appreciate all that is around you. Likely yours will be the only car, and thus you will be likely to surprise the contented critters along the road.

You'll drop into Prattsville, the western-most town in Greene County before you cross into Delaware County, where the GNC begins to undulate into more agricultural terrain.  Make a left onto Route 23.  You'll now be heading south then east, toward Ashland.  (Be careful -- just past Pratt's Rock Route 23 veers east; if you miss the turn, you'll be on Route 23A, heading toward Lexington.) Stay on Route 23 and continue in awe of the beauty of the GNC. Glance at Batavia Kill (on your right) a few times as you drive; there are small falls here and there, and on the left is a small, very old, one-room chapel, in case you want to get married or give thanks.

If you're hungry, there are a few places in Windham to stop for lunch or dinner, some with a view of Windham Mountain Ski Area, or you can continue through town (slowly - cops!), up cemetery hill (as the locals call it) and back to Route 296.  Make a right, and shortly you will be back where you started at Alpine Garden.  (There's no garden there -- it's all around you.)

You can cover this circuit by car in about an hour.  I did it on a bike and it was my quads that screamed at me to blog this.