I've been in New York for 11 years now after living in Maine for 22 years. It was a bit of culture shock, to be sure, but I adjusted.

Someone recently asked me how long I've had a beard and I realized it's been around 31 years. I've always kept it rather closely trimmed but in the Fall of 2007 I decided to let it grow out, mostly out of curiosity. Now that it's much fuller I find I quite enjoy it. And because it is so white (and I am a tad round) the Santa comments are coming from all over. I'm seriously considering having a red suit made up for the holidyas!