Just as our first day of vacation was grey, so was the last. I can't say I was disappointed. The days between were warm and sunny but I really enjoy the cooler grey days. I was up early again. My 4 month old daughter had woke up at 4am to eat. By the time I'd gotten her back down at 5am, I was too awake to sleep more. So I grabbed a few things and drove to a nearby beach. The fog this time was a little heavier and I couldn't see too far past the shoreline. The beaches here aren't quite the sandy paradises one normally pictures when they think of a beach. The ground is gravely and littered with driftwood. Kelp beds tangle into the piles of driftwood at the high tide mark. The tide was out, revealing the mud flats. Seagulls roamed the beach in search looking for a morning meal and I wondered why they never seemed to bother the bed of muscles covering a good portion of beach. They certainly are capable of getting into them.
The waters are calm, the waves gently lap against the shoreline. For a moment the tranquility of the morning is broken as a couple Navy fighter fly above the clouds somewhere. But they pass quick. I spend about 15 minutes taking it all in. Then open the back of the car and ready for my morning shave. I brought a gallon of water. I poured about half of it into a pot and placed it on a propane camp stove I set out on the ground. It takes a while for the water to heat up. When steam starts drifting from the pot I wet a towel to dampen my face. I used Proraso facial scrub to wash my face. It's not my favorite but I like the cool/warm feeling I get from it. The scent seemed extra nice on a day like this. It says mint and rosemary but to me it smells like cedar.
After cleaning up, I apply a little preshave oil, dampen the towel again in the hot water and wrap it around my face for a minute. Relaxed back in a camp chair with a towel wrapped around my face and a pot of water warming next to me I wonder what a passer by might think at this sight. It's almost 6am now.
I step to the open back of my car. Barrister and Mann Cheshire seemed appropriate today. It made a nice later on my Heritage Kambro brush (sadly, this would be the last time I use this brush, I believe I dropped it as I left and was unable to find it later in the day). I applied it to my face. I used a plastic shave bowl when I travel, after making a good lather I floated it for a minute in the hot water to warm it up. I hate a cold lather. It was refreshing on my face.
As before, I used my gold dollar razor. Stropped ahead of time, dipped the blade into the warm water. A tradition I began years ago after something someone told me about putting cold steel to warm skin. Was it true? Probably not. I notice no difference but I do it any way. The strokes of the blade seemed to naturally take on a slower, rhythmic pattern that followed with the waves. I wasn't just shaving the stubble off my face, I was romancing it away. Had the world ended around me, I doubt I would have noticed.
A splash of hot water, a splash of cold. Pat dry. A splash of aftershave. The smell of Earl Grey tea would follow me the rest of the day. Right into a pub in La Conner where I had fish and chips, clam chowder, and a cup of Earl Grey. My favorite meal since I was little kid.
The waters are calm, the waves gently lap against the shoreline. For a moment the tranquility of the morning is broken as a couple Navy fighter fly above the clouds somewhere. But they pass quick. I spend about 15 minutes taking it all in. Then open the back of the car and ready for my morning shave. I brought a gallon of water. I poured about half of it into a pot and placed it on a propane camp stove I set out on the ground. It takes a while for the water to heat up. When steam starts drifting from the pot I wet a towel to dampen my face. I used Proraso facial scrub to wash my face. It's not my favorite but I like the cool/warm feeling I get from it. The scent seemed extra nice on a day like this. It says mint and rosemary but to me it smells like cedar.
After cleaning up, I apply a little preshave oil, dampen the towel again in the hot water and wrap it around my face for a minute. Relaxed back in a camp chair with a towel wrapped around my face and a pot of water warming next to me I wonder what a passer by might think at this sight. It's almost 6am now.
I step to the open back of my car. Barrister and Mann Cheshire seemed appropriate today. It made a nice later on my Heritage Kambro brush (sadly, this would be the last time I use this brush, I believe I dropped it as I left and was unable to find it later in the day). I applied it to my face. I used a plastic shave bowl when I travel, after making a good lather I floated it for a minute in the hot water to warm it up. I hate a cold lather. It was refreshing on my face.
As before, I used my gold dollar razor. Stropped ahead of time, dipped the blade into the warm water. A tradition I began years ago after something someone told me about putting cold steel to warm skin. Was it true? Probably not. I notice no difference but I do it any way. The strokes of the blade seemed to naturally take on a slower, rhythmic pattern that followed with the waves. I wasn't just shaving the stubble off my face, I was romancing it away. Had the world ended around me, I doubt I would have noticed.
A splash of hot water, a splash of cold. Pat dry. A splash of aftershave. The smell of Earl Grey tea would follow me the rest of the day. Right into a pub in La Conner where I had fish and chips, clam chowder, and a cup of Earl Grey. My favorite meal since I was little kid.
