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Sitting Here...



As I get older, I see a trend in me that is surprising to me. I have just started to proctor my endocrinology exam and for the next two hours, I will be sitting here while the students fuss and fidget and write and write until their hands cramp to complete their exam, hopefully by the end of the time I have allotted..... two hours. While I typically enjoy proctoring exams because I can get caught up on some work while it is quiet, or I can play if I am not overly busy... I am also finding (especially during the last few years) that my ability (actually willingness would be a better word) to sit still while the students take the exam is declining.

I am so very used to moving and jumping around and being all bombastic and dramatic in the classroom during lecture so I can make key points, so I can keep their attention, and to "entertain" them (or at least entertain myself" that sitting for these two hours is becoming surprisingly more challenging.

So, what have I been thinking about you may ask? Not surprisingly, it seems when I am bored or fidgety, my mind drifts to pipes and pipe tobacco. I have been daydreaming about how I would like to be smoking my pipe at the moment. It is an interesting notion to think about. I regularly refrain from my pipe for many hours, and as long as I am enjoying the activity, or am busy, or mentally focused... I give my pipe nary a thought. But if I have a lull in activity, or if I am bored, it becomes a primary focus. Perhaps that is a more valuable insight for me to keep at the front of my brain if I take another stab at reducing my consumption of the beautiful pipe tobacco leaf.

I shall contemplate that as I sit here, twiddling my thumbs, as I wait for the students to finish.



PipeTobacco