Been Thinking Some
I still let the grades “marinate” so-to-speak until Sunday night, but then I decided that it was time and I uploaded them right before I went to bed at midnight. So, they are done.
I still was feeling quite a loss at not having my own marination ritual of a few drinks and a few pipes like I had done so consistently on Marination Friday, but what can I do? It does not exist anymore.
My wife was busy with a doctor’s appointment and work today. We had spent both Saturday and Sunday making and baking a huge array of cookies. Today, some of my kids and I spent the day decorating the cookies in as fancy a way as we could. We actually had great success in making an icing that not only tasted good, but hardened sufficiently to allow stacking (not an easy task, because good tasting frosting tends to not harden, and icing that hardens often is blah. But we managed to make a frosting that was damn good, was able to be piped decoratively in about 10 different colors we made, and the frosting became beautifully hard to boot! We also tried for the first time to make “flood icing”. Flood icing is rather boring in terms of flavor, but it is beautifully shinny and smooth. We used that to make shirts on our gingerbread men, and mittens and hats on the snowmen. Our plan is to box and/or tin up the 25-27 packages of cookies we want to drive around and deliver (socially distanced) to friends and relatives..... hope we will box/tin them tonight, and make deliveries tomorrow. We even have made two different gluten free cookies for two families who have some family members with Celiac’s Disease.
I have been contemplating if perhaps it might be ok for me to have a pipe or two during this time of the Holiday. It sure would be a beautiful experience. I am not sure if staying away is such a worthwhile goal at the moment or not. But, I am also not sure if I would simply slide back (perhaps blissfully) fully into the hobby either. While that sounds wonderful as well.... it really is probably not wise. I do not know if I were to briefly rejoin the joy of pipe smoking if I would be able to muster enough gumption to refrain again, however. So, it is more than a bit of a conundrum for my to decide upon.
PipeTobacco
6 Comments:
You and your wife sound like great neighbors.
Coffee is on and stay safe
what sweethearts you are
So thoughtful of you!
No, don't!
Please post a photo of the cookies. What a great thing to do.
I am also not sure if I would simply slide back (perhaps blissfully) fully into the hobby
That's just it. For you, kind sir, I don't think of pipes as a "hobby." They're more a way of life, or even a mode of being. Having "a pipe or two" and then abstaining would be a bit like a jailed felon being given "a day or two" of freedom and then being taken back to jail. Having tasted freedom, prison will be all the more unpleasant. Yet, if he then escapes, he'll forever be looking over his shoulder and wondering whether it would have been better to serve out his sentence in jail.
The day will come, I'm sure, when you know that you are released from your commitment to abstaining. Then you can be fully the person you know yourself to be, whether you enjoy one pipe in a week, or two in a day. Maybe even ditch the university stress and open a small tobacconist shop as a retirement project :-) But, until then, I don't think that having a pipe or two and then abstaining again is likely to be a good idea.
But what do I know? You'll do what you know is best.
Professor...based on your recent entries on abstention and from posts from about a decade ago...if there's one thing I am certain of it's that you born to be a pipe-smoker. The way you wax poetic about the leaf, the lighting, the ritual of the whole thing. When I was learning to start the habit before I actually had the courage to go looking for a pipe, lighting up, and doing the actual LEARNING, I considered you a sort of a mentor through your philosophical observations. Hell, I remember even asking if I could prevail upon you for some advice when the time came...and you agreed. Then I drifted away, discovered the pipe community on YouTube, and the fine folks on there sent me on my way...and here I am, still learning in fits and starts. I have about 20 pipes (two of them actually made for me...) and a range of tobaccos. I post occasionally on my YouTube channel and I still feel like I'm learning. And one thing I HAVE learned that piping is more of a philosophy than a habit/addiction like cigarettes. Some of the people expound upon tobaccos, some share life stories about how/where they discovered the pipe, their collections...I've learned a lot. And it's a great community. If you're cyborging anyway, check out DALE PIPER, THE UPSTATE PIPER, THE ARMCHAIR PIPER(just to name a couple) on YouTube. It's a great community. My own channel is THE GENTLEMAN SCHOLAR...and compared to some of the other presenters, I am pretty unremarkable.
Anyway, Professor...I wish you luck with further pipe ruminations...and all of your academic teaching challenges. I'm glad you're out there...
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home