It's A Nice Day

I'm on vacation...I like vacations.

I think I'm just going to ramble today, no need to be all focused. I just shaved with my Iwasaki Tamahagane and I'm feeling slightly euphoric.

It took a while to hone up after the recent polishing work (that Tamahagane must be hard stuff...) but the edge was, well...superb. I honed it out on my larger stone, the big yellow Nashiji Nakayama. It was smooth as butter, and sharp as a...a...really sharp thing. It's a satisfying feeling, that; I can't imagine being a straight shaver and not honing. It's such an intimate part of the process, and I really think you can't understand a razor fully until you've brought it to shave-readiness yourself. It makes the razor YOURS. The edge (the true test of the razor) from anyone else may shave you, but it's missing the point I think.

Maybe that's just me.

******

Speaking of shaving, I visited the ol' barbershop yesterday, just for a haircut. No honing, no lessons, just a plain old haircut and a jaw, the way it ought to be at the barbershop. It was nice, the barber was in fine spirits and his very pregnant daughter dropped by...a lovely young lady. It was a good day, a good haircut, and at the end, of course talk turned to razors. The last time I saw him, my wife and I gave him a Kanayama strop as a sign of our gratitude for all he's done for me. Yesterday, he showed me how he had treated the linen with soap (I honestly couldn't tell) and showed me his stropping technique.

He got out a razor and sent it racing along the linen, using a bit more pressure than I would (it was really ZINGing) but, of course, one does develop one's technique after 40 odd years. But as he finished, the razor caught my eye...something about the shape was familiar. I asked to hold it, and of course...or course.

An Iwasaki Tamahagane straight.

I should have known that he would only have the best. It made me smile, all my excitement over it, and I could have had a shave from one any time I wanted.

******

Tomorrow is my last day in Japan for a while--we leave for America on Tuesday (packing an IM stick and some La Toja senstive, my Wapi, L'Ultima Setola and loom Strop for the trip). Two weeks back home with my mom, eating and drinking and resting up...of course hitting antique shops and fleamarkets is on my list, so maybe I'll have some new toys when I get back (fingers crossed for hones!).

Also, if anyone has any tips on shopping for good stuff in the Southeast Kansas/Southwest Missouri/Northeast Oklahoma area, let me know!

Take care, and happy shaving.