One day Kaisa had enough. I had grown more and more, well, rugged is the word that has been thrown around, as our journey has progressed. But now it was time to make a change.
And as fate would have it just across the street from the restaurant where we enjoyed our lunch was a barbershop that according to its sing welcomed walk ins. And did straight razor shaves.
I admit to being a bit hesitant at first, having some trust issues with strangers fielding sharp knives next to my wind pipe, but for Kaisa this was non-negotiable. So in I went.
Immediately when I entered, I was given the warmest of welcomes by the shop’s owner Randy. When I expressed my hesitancy towards such an operation he simply laughed and told me he had been a medic at the air force for several decades, so if he would end up cutting me he would also know how to fix it.
Reassured, at least to some degree, I sat in the chair and in no time had warm towels wrapped around my face. Now this might not sound like much, but after having spent one month on the road this felt like royal treatment, surpassing any spa experience by a long shot!
First my head got shaved, and at that point I kind of got used to the experience and wasn’t quite as terrified. I relaxed a bit. So much that during the shaving of the face I think I fell asleep for a moment. Or it might have been during the final round of hot towels.
But that’s neither here nor there – the real point is that after the shave I felt (and probably looked) like a new man again. It is the small things that matter in life, like a good shave. Something which was once again proven beyond doubt.
And no matter how long or rough your journey might be, you should also allow for some fun time.
So if you ever happen to pass through Grinnell, Iowa, please give RJ’s Barbershop a visit. You will not regret it.
Ps. I was told that shaving the chin would have been a bit easier, should I have been fatter. My bony cheeks really tested the skills of the barber, Randy told me. I took this as a compliment of the highest order.