Recent posts featuring our Midwestern buddies, Neil & Irene Ellis,1 especially Thanksgiving 2020 – The Year Of The Stand-ins, have resulted in readers pointing out, to quote Jeb,2

Neil’s beard/goatee game is STRONG.

Well, the synchronicity of Neil’s exuberant facial foliage and Irene’s long-time fascination with Christmas ornamentation inevitably eventuated in The Duchess & me sending them the beardaments that Neil and The Mighty, Albeit Deaf, Augie model in the photo atop this post.

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1. Neil is great friend who plays a respectable round of golf, identifies unseen birds by their calls, completes the New York Times Friday Crossword in ink, and snaps a heck of a photo. His photos are featured here at AllanShowalter.com and can be found at Neil Ellis Photos. Irene, shown below,

   is a gem, who has remained enamored of Neil and become a blessing to friends like us. [↩]

2. Jeb, aka SportsBizPro, has, bless his heart, already inspired a batch of posts, including I Knew The Bride When She Used To Rock & Roll — Heck, I Knew The Bride When She Sang Her ABCs, Crucial Wedding Rules No One Else Will Share With You, and, my own favorite, Walkernastics: DrHGuy’s Walker Dismount Demo. [↩]