As I was going from beard to none, I made a few stops along the way.
Portland’s a beard town. I had grown my own for this year’s holiday greeting, so I decided to keep it through the winter, to blend in with my new northwestern neighbors. It was mid-January when I felt the need — the scratchy, scruffy, unkempt need — to return to the clean-shaven, close-cropped, beach-volleyball-playing style of my old San Diego home.