Home Haircuttery

I don't quite know why my brother Dave brought his hair clippers to the mountain house, as he had a fresh haircut himself. But once they were on the scene, they were like the loaded gun in Chekhov's famous remark about playwriting and theatre. If you put a gun on stage, he said, before the play is over, that gun has to go off.

Last Saturday night, after a few whiskey-and-honeys, Matt and Dave began to discuss the idea of Dave cutting Matt's hair. But how short? That was the question. Then it seemed like a good idea for Matt to roll a die to pick the guard thingies that attach to the clippers. I hadn't taken much interest in the proceedings until there was an element of chance involved. He rolled twice, once for the top and once for the sides. He came up with a 6 and a 3, and we all decided that we could live with that.

Here's the before shot. As in, before Dave started cutting and also before he mentioned that he had never done this. Again, this piqued my interest in the proceedings considerably.

The "after" shot. We all thought it turned out quite well. Nice and short but no visible scalp. He did a great job around the ears, and I believe he used a #4 to blend the sides with the top. Cutting each other's hair: it's what dudes do, I guess. I give myself credit for urging them to wait until the light of day and sobriety to do the shearing. I think this should be a Thanksgiving tradition, as long as I never have to take a turn.