Simple Pleasures

I find a haircut to be one of the most relaxing of life's cyclical duties and chores. Sometimes the social aspect of the barbershop pervades, and at other times, it remains a quite, meditative hour--a spa for men, of sorts. For the past four years, I've frequented a traditional barbershop in town that is managed by a spry 72 year old. Sometimes we'll discuss the most interesting and random of subjects, from big game hunting to treasure diving to making coffee with egg shells. Other times I just sit quietly and blank out to the quite snip-snip-snip sounds and the wicking of the straight razor as he cleans the edges of the cut. It's a beautiful, tranquil moment and the finesse and clean cut of the razor is a peculiar sort of aesthetic pleasure. The man's art is akin to a masterful head massage, and the craft with which he works makes me understand why barbers and surgeons were once the same profession.