Beautiful
Yes, another pipe post. For some of you I am sure it is rather boring. But, it is what is on my mind.... and I typically use this space to put down the varied thoughts I have outside of my day-to-day work.
I have always thought tobacco pipes were utterly beautiful works of art. Whether pristine and new or battered and used and well loved.... there is a tremendous "artisty" aspect to these simple devices to me. I have a few books of photographic images of pipes that had been given to me over the years, and I have thumbed through them often. And, with the Internet, I admit I have spent a fair amount of time looking at and perusing pipe images over the years.
So, even though I do not have any particular "cravings" to smoke a pipe at this very moment (you know that I still often DO have that desire of course, but at the moment, not really).... my mind has been focused on pipes and pipe imagery.... and it has all been from in my memory. For whatever reason, while I was running my 6.2 miles (10 K) this morning I initially prayed through the rosary as I always do while running. But, when I finished the rosary, I spent the last mile and a half or so, imagining and pulling from my memory, images of a whole array of artistically beautiful tobacco pipes. It was akin to a slide show in my mind and it helped to pass the time very pleasantly as I concluded my run.
PipeTobacco
3 Comments:
Rosary and pipe images--an interesting contrast. I was intrigued by your praying through the rosary while running. Do you use the actual beads, or is this a completely mental exerscise?
forsythia : If I'm in a similar situation without actual beads handy, I use the fingers on my hands to keep track of the decades of the rosary.
BTW, they also make single-decade versions when space and situation don't permit a full rosary.
Perhaps there's an important nuance to consider in your very nice post. You are drawn to the aesthetic appeal of tobacco pipes, not pipes in general. Never mind the marijuana-consumption devices; you are drawn to those implements that draw you closer to your beloved pipe tobacco. This just reinforces my sense that you will never be an "ex-smoker" or a "non-smoker" -- your mind and your heart are too deeply invested in the beauty and pleasure of pipe smoking. Right now you are a pipe smoker who is refraining, and at some point in all likelihood you will become a pipe smoker who indulges occasionally. Maybe someday you'll even get fed up with university life, sell all your assets, and move south to open your own tobacconist's shop!
People don't force themselves to keep beauty out of their lives. We naturally gravitate toward what we find beautiful. You, sir, are a contented pipe smoker who just happens now not to be smoking your pipes, whether that "not now" turns out to be for a year or for a decade. I am glad that in refraining from the aesthetic pleasure of pipe smoking, you haven't also tried to force the aesthetic pleasure of pipes out of your life.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home