Black and white

From thea ge of four years, I have sported a full head of dark brown hair.
Whilst it has become less wavey over the years it has remained the same
colour, only latterly going a little gray at the sides. This I don't mind,
since it gives me a little academic cred and silently rebutts those who
accuse me of dyeing it. In my youth, my beard was the same colour, but this
voyage has given me the opportunity to grow one again for the first time in
over thirty years.
I was horrified to see my image in the miror just now and may as well
confess - I have a severe case of badger-chin. Two white stripes from the
corners of my mouth, down eathier side. It is not a good look.
Though my father's hair is now white, he did not succumb until well into his
60s, but I have no data on beard colour among my antecedents. I do have
photos of past relatives, some with beards and there is no trace of this
two-tone affliction. I wet-shave - perhaps the use of a badger hair shaving
brush has, in some LaMarquian way, induced this change (I watch CSI and know
all about DNA in hair follicles).
Whatever the cause, it is certain that I will be clean-shaven when I step
ashore in America. I do not want to create the wrong impression - they have
skunks there.
Trev