Memories.... A Series (#3)

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• I was able to sketch out a really interesting plan for my Spring/Summer course yesterday and made some headway into getting some of it ready too.  
• Running was very nice this morning!  Still very rainy.... but no wind.  Rain is much more acceptable.... wind is my nemesis in running.  :)
• I have put in a request to check out a drawing tablet from the U.  This device is basically a mouse but it is in the form of a sensory pad about the size of a typical mouse pad and it has an electronic pen (stylus) that you can use a) as a mouse, but more importantly you can use it b) like a pen to draw on objects on the screen.  It is significantly easier than trying to draw a line on a PowerPoint slide using an actual mouse.  The lines and writing look far more natural and are more precise.  I think this will be a wonderful addition to some of the audio lectures I give over some of the PowerPoint slides.  I tried to draw on slides WITH a mouse... and it looked like crazy chicken scratches most of the time.
• One of my favorite novelists in the "detective" genre, Johnathan Kellerman has a new (to me anyway) novel out and I am thinking I may order it.  

So, I thought today also might be a good day for part 3 in my memories posting:

[Please note, if you have not done so, and would like to start reading at part one of this essay, please scroll down to "Memories.... A Series (#1)".]


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The observation I made of my father when he smoked his pipe made me quite curious. Up and until that point, my father's pipe smoking had always simply been a part of who he was... I never thought much about it, other than finding the aromas reassuring that all was well with the world. I had never given any thought as to why my father indulged in the pipe hobby... again it just seemed a part of him. But to notice the visible sense of relaxation/contentment in my father's face.... the gentle drooping of his mustache, the relaxation in his mouth and chin that quieted the bristling nature of his beard. Additionally, I could see in his eyes and eyelids, even behind his owlish glasses, a perceptible change, a greater sense of serenity, his brows became less furrowed, his forehead relaxed.

Never having noticed this, I found it very curious and interesting. I continued to watch him for the next few weeks when he pulled out one of his pipes and began the ritual of filling the bowl with crumbles and igniting flame and leaf. Each time, the same indicators of calmness and relaxation washed over him and I found it interesting.

After a few weeks of observation, curiosity got the better of me and I began to contemplate trying out one of his pipes myself.

The challenge was... at my young age then.... how?!?

[Another good stopping point for now. Comments or suggestions are always appreciated.]

PipeTobacco