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14 Weeks

I did not do *formal* exercise today, but I think I did a significant amount of exertion to count today as an exercise day. Running around all over campus, teaching a VERY animated 3 hour lecture over part of the nervous system, various forms of work around the home. Even so, I think I shall (if I muster up the fortitude) attempt to walk a double length tomorrow.

My wife went to eat dinner with her parents this evening and I as has become my new practice, went to eat dinner with my sister. It was a very comfortable and enjoyable time. We each ate our usual... her, a waffle with strawberries and hot chocolate (yes, it was 90 degrees today, but she likes hot chocolate).... me, a turkey sandwich and salad. We talked and laughed and caught up on events in each other's lives. I brought her an iced tea pitcher my wife and I found for her... she had been searching for one like it for well over a year. She was pleased.

Afterwards, I stopped at a tobacco shop and purchased two different pouches of pipe tobacco. Both plain, unadorned burleys... both rather simple but strong. But each was different in the cut of the leaf so they have different qualities while smoking them.

Next, as I started to drive back across town to my home, I stopped at the cemetery to visit my mother's gravesite. There are so many loved ones there. My mother, my father, my sister's daughter (R). My maternal grandparents, my Uncles R, O, L, C, K, my aunt A, several cousins who died at birth or at infancy. A very close cousin, B, and others. It is akin to a family reunion.

I brought my mother a rose, and sat at her grave and prayed briefly and talked to her as best as I could for several minutes. I then laid the rose on the headstone, stood and looked at it quietly for several minutes. I miss her so very much. I miss talking with her. I miss her smile, I miss her eyes. I miss HER.

When I arrived home, my wife was feeling sad. I tried to comfort her. It took quite a while, but eventually she relaxed and felt a little better. I then watched a bit of television with her, had a few pipes outside (I enjoy the night air). I am writing this now, and after I finish, I shall head to bed.

PipeTobacco