............................................ ............................................ A blog devoted to the ramblings of a small town, middle aged college professor as he experiences life and all its strange variances.
Hah.
............................................ ............................................ A blog devoted to the ramblings of a small town, middle aged college professor as he experiences life and all its strange variances.
About the Author: The Frumpy Professor has a Ph.D. in Zoology with specialization in endocrinology. He is active in both research and teaching. His rather furry-face is salt-and-pepper grey, and he sports wire-rimmed glasses. In addition to pipe-smoking, philosophy, drinking, and writing, he is an avid hunter and fisherman.
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2 Comments:
I think you know, deep down, that you are going to take up your pipes again... if not this week, then in a month or a year or at some point. Although you are now abstaining, you know that you would feel an immense sense of loss and sadness if you could somehow know today that you would never again delight in the enticing aroma of burning burley leaf. And yet, your blog personality suggests that whenever you go back to your pipes, you are likely to feel a sense of failure that may muddy the joy you otherwise feel in being reunited with your beloved pipes and tobaccos.
With that in mind, perhaps you would feel less like a failure if you could direct the blame elsewhere? If you could tell yourself that one of your blog readers filled your mind and heart with such temptation that you couldn't resist having a couple of bowls... after which those couple of bowls would surely tempt you to have another the next day... and the next... until you were once again happily attached to your pipes, never again to think of leaving them.
Just reading your description of your beloved ratpipe tells me, without a doubt, that while the world around you has taught you to be ashamed of yourself for enjoying your pipes, deep down you know better. Pipe smoking isn't just something you do; it's a fundamental part of who you are. Think of the happy moments you shared with your father, and with your father in law. Think of how you enjoyed your pipes together. Think of how a pipeful even now can rouse happy memories of the fellowship you shared. Think of the pleasant taste of the burning burley leaf, a tinge of nut, perhaps almost a tinge of cocoa. Think of the relaxation, the mental clarity, and the peace each pipe can grant you.
Do you believe in omens? If so, what else but a happy omen could that ratpipe be? Your happiness at being reunited with your old friend leads me to wonder: how many other pipes you have, sitting around unused, lonely, waiting to re-establish a relationship with their owner?
Modern pop culture wants you to enjoy crass movies as if they were art, and to shun your pipe as if it were an enemy. You already know that in many ways you cannot twist your deeply held values enough to conform as society wants you to conform. Why should your pipe smoking be any different? You will never fully please the people who disapprove of your pipe smoking, as they approve of much in our culture that is far less edifying than your bowl of tobacco.
And there you have it! If you smoke a couple of bowls in your ratpipe, then soon afterward smoke each of your other pipes, and soon go back to a routine not unlike your old routine as a pipe smoker, you can now blame your decision, at least in part, on a blog poster who enticed you into giving in to the very strong temptation to do what you know you want to do -- something that is not a sin, and may be an objective moral good, and something that has deeply intertwined with your family history and sense of self. Jus do it, Professor -- you know you want to, and you know you eventually will. So, why not do it sooner, rather than later?
Yes, for as long as your time of abstinence is teaching you new lessons about yourself, your willpower, your values, and your priorities, that abstinence is doing you a world of good and it is worth continuing. But once it has finished serving its purpose -- perhaps today, perhaps ten years from today -- you'll go back to your pipes, wiser for the experience. That's something you can be very happy about, no matter how you resolve the deep feelings your beloved old ratpipe is currently stirring. Best wishes in figuring it all out, Professor!
be strong..
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