First, let me say that the accompanying photo is not edited. It's completely a practical effect that was the result of having too much time at one point.
Of the many wonderful things about having a beard of
considerable density, is the experience of waking up with
it in the morning.
You see, upon stroking it (or scratching, which happens
as a response to the general confusion of morning and
sunlight), the individual strands work together to send to
the wearer's nasal passages a complex but easily
navigable range of scents and smells. It serves as a
morning-after diary, whether the evening before was
filled with frivolous debauchery (if one is partial to such)
or was a quiet night alone, ashamedly consuming any
dessert-like, chocolatey substance found in one’s “what’s
to eat” quest between pantry and refrigerator.
As was my case this morning, my nose absorbed
elements of the people I’d embraced the previous day
and whatever they left behind on my person (bearded
folk embrace, we do not hug).
I remembered not to have flavoured coffee again and
made a mental note of this. The hazelnut-tainted aroma
of coffee had decided to bury itself in my facial forest
possibly because it had sensed that I house the smell of
the bean almost indiscriminately (this is a weakness on
my part, I need more beard filtration).
Further stroking helped me to make up my mind on
accompanying my next (compensatory) coffee with a
balancing blend of full-bodied tobaccos, whose ghosts
would depart in smoky strands out of the corners of my
mouth sometime later today.
My beard will have something to show off to me about
when I wake up again.
So, regarding my #question in the title, I think I've answered my question.
