So Much

 

I am feeling like both a cyborg this morning and also like an CPA (Certified Public Accountant).  It is that time of the semester where I am feverishly inputting scores as fast as I can after grading papers and exams, and doing all manners of number crunching.  I am aiming to submit my grades as soon as feasible now that my last final has concluded.  

This time of the semester USED to be especially fun and enjoyable because of a long standing ritual I had established for the Friday of Final Exam Week  for many, many years:

1.  Inevitably, by the end of the day, Friday, of this week, I would be tired from all the number crunching I would be doing and all the grading as well.  

2.  I would aim to have the basic grades determined for my students before I left for the day on Friday. 

3.  Right before I would lock up my office and head out, I would send my "marination" letter to students.  It would read something like the following:

Hello to My Many Students in XXXX class:

As you know, grades for our course are to be turned in by me in the early part of next week.  I have worked through a rough idea of the grades, but now it is time for them to "marinate" over the weekend.  This marination process is critically important for it helps me to determine if there may be some adjustments that need to be made and may even potentially guide me to give a slight curve to the course.  But, this marination process takes time, and I will not be checking e-mails during this period.  

Professor PipeTobacco  

4.  Then, I would have a standing offer that I would always eagerly accept to go and visit my elderly father-in-law, and we would chat, consume a libation or two or three (I would refer to it as gently marinating my mind.), and of course indulge with my father-in-law in various delightful pipe tobaccos in our pipes.  I would also get him laughing with a wide array of tales of the various exploits of my students across the semester as well and also specifically remind him of the marinating process for grades.  If we had a good time (which we always did), I would feel more inclined to be gentle and kind to the students come Monday when I would finalize the grades.... or if I felt especially ambitious, I might finalize things during the weekend and drop them off on Monday.  

So, while there were never times I did not enjoy smoking my pipes, the "Marinating Friday" pipe smoking with my father-in-law was definitely in the top tier of especially enjoyable and looked forward to pipe smoking "events".  

So, today being what would have been a "Marinating Friday", I am feeling especially strongly the passing of my father-in-law.  He was such a great guy... a father-in-law, a true second father for me as my father had passed away long ago, a true friend, a "drinking buddy", and a "pipe buddy" as well.    And, I am also deeply missing the ritual of "Marinating Friday" and I am especially missing the joy, tranquility, and cheer of having several pipes as a "celebration" of a semester that has been successfully completed, a "celebration" of the true START of feeling the Holiday Spirit, a "celebration" that all is as it should be with the day-to-day life I and my family have.  

The flavor, the texture, the gentle pleasure of the pipe tobacco upon my mind, the warmth of the bowl in my hand, the ritual of slowly filling the bowl to the brim with gentle brown crumbles of leaf, the process of drawing flame into the bowl.  The contentedness that arises from these actions, which are still so innate in my abilities.  I so very much miss the whole package of this hobby, this avocation, this part of myself.  

PipeTobacco