Hirsute

She liked my beard. Not a compliment I get often. Of course, I have rarely sported facial hair during my lifetime and grew it recently with the idea that it would be a temporary appearance change. It's not terribly attractive, despite this one woman's opinion to the contrary. Since growing the hair on my head only emphasizes the spaces where there isn't any, I grew the hair on my face instead. It chafes and scratches and generally doesn't look or feel like me.

Yet now that I have it I'm reluctant to shave it off. It's not a part of me the same way, say, my fingers are but I'm oddly reluctant to part with it even as I can't wait to feel the hair clipper buzz its way through the thicket.