Last night, I was all set to post a second (and final) vote on whether I should shave my beard. But then when I woke up this morning, I decided I’d had it. Enough with this democratic approach to facial hair. I was ready to take matters into my own hands. And so I did.

It’s funny. I spent two weeks hating the life out of that scratchy red carpet pictured above-left. But now that I’ve lost it, I miss it. It took me about 45 minutes to trim and shave that thing — and I clogged the drain something fierce — but it’s gone now (the beard, not the clog). Given that I hadn’t seen the skin of my chin and cheeks for so long, it was quite a shock to witness myself all baby-smooth. My face is doughier and pastier than I remember. With the beard and hair, I looked like a tree-hugging hitcher. With the hair and without the beard, I just look like a twelve-year-old.

I miss my beard, reader. I miss my beard.

So, anyway, that was a fun experiment. And I promise that for as long as this walk takes, I will never mention facial hair again (at least not as frequently as I’ve mentioned it these past two weeks). I’m hoping to post again today shortly after I’m done walking, and it promises to be something completely different. I should reach a point just south of Great Falls, SC, which puts me over 700 miles on this journey. I’ll get back to you soon.