No, no post yesterday. After all, yesterday was Father’s Day, and I was celebrating a really fun day with Rhonda and the boys.

Rhonda made an awesome breakfast and an awesome lunch followed (I mean, Salmon with mustard cream sauce? Get out…).

But, the highlight of the day happened when Rhonda and the boys took me to St. Petersburg to the Shave Cave for an old fashioned straight razor shave. Since I hadn’t shaved since last Thursday, I was ready for one! This place gave me the promise of what very sharp steel could do to whiskers. No guards. No training wheels. Just an edge, a steady, experienced hand and my skin.

Oh, and beer. While I was waiting for my turn in the chair, the owner offered me a glass of a nice summer ale. With Tampa Bay’s oppressive humidity already in full swing, who was I to turn down a glass of ice cold beer?

While I waited for my turn, I couldn’t help but get over a few things. The camaraderie that existed was like the barber shops I used to visit a long time ago when I was a kid. The barber’s tools carefully laid out, ready for each step in the process.

It got me thinking about the barbers in days gone by who did more than their fair share of shaves this way. It reminded me about the resurgence of hand tools – how the skills that could have possibly been lost forever were brought back from the edge by flea market hunters and premium hand tool manufacturers who sought these tools out and learned the techniques.

After four different towels (three hot, one cold), pre shave oils, post shave masks, a facial massage and some after-shave lotion, I rose from the chair feeling relaxed, refreshed and – as Rhonda said – ‘Man’pered for Father’s Day. I even got my own special shave brush to use at home.

It also gave me a new appreciation for how well sharp tools work, and let me know that perhaps now that I’m between projects, it’s a good time to break out the Tormek and do a little sharpening of my own. Hey, that wood’s not gonna shave itself.

Happy Father’s Day – belated – to everyone!