The sights of November rank high in my favorite yearly spectacles. Save for a few stubbornly lively trees, the array of autumnal colors can be mesmerizing. Just yesterday, as I was driving to Tech’s Appalachian Center for Craft to develop some photographs, I unconsciously pumped the brakes to revel in the cascade of yellows, ambers and red-orange leaves. The view was lovely and wholly encompassing. I did the same on my way back down the winding hill that led me to the ACC, only to have my youthful whimsy broken by the realization that I, Mike Ford, frequent proprietor of a fall-time face blanket, am without beard. I shaved for my Halloween costume. Why, dear heavens, could I not just feel the same wind that brought me the tawny showers whisk through an ocher beard?Not to worry, readers. The saving grace of countless face is here. No-Shave November is upon us (Novembeard, as I have taken to calling it). The month-long celebration of scruffy-faced manliness will redeem my fall frenzy of breezes and flannels and I hope dearly that each man reading participates.
