So, I haven’t shaved my legs since we left Mexico. My first dabbling with unshaven legs was way back in college, just after Andrew was born. We became good friends with Angela and Uwe, a couple from Germany who had a son just a couple months older than Andrew. I noticed that she didn’t shave her legs, and that totally appealed to me at that time in my life. I was busy, mostly focusing on Andrew and school, and mostly not focusing on how I looked, so I embraced my newfound granola-ness. I also became a vegetarian around that time, but that’s for another story.
This time, I mostly stopped shaving out of practicality. In order not to waste the fresh water, I typically shave sitting on one of the back swim steps using sea water, and you can’t really do that while underway, so I figured for the long passage, I would abstain. But then we got to the Marquesas, and I learned that hairy legs have a very real benefit that comes in most handy in the tropic, that is, as mosquito repellant. Not really repellant, per se, but more like shield. Tim has always commented that he has a natural mosquito barrier, and now I do to.
Fun fact: It is now the year 2022 and I’ve lived back in San Diego for 5 years, and I still don’t shave my legs.
Gresham Family Exodus 