Fade to Amber
I have been also having thoughts in the back of my mind about Omicron. There are several private universities along the Eastern US who have already decreed that the first three weeks of next semester will need to be virtual. I suspect many, many more will follow. I am not sure if my U will also follow suit.... it typically depends on the state-wide yimmer-yammering by the politicos who try to strong arm the schools to do their bidding. Unfortunately, the current loudest voices are from the various Republican yahoos in our state house and senate. From a scientific and from a health & wellness perspective, it would be logical to be virtual for at least the first three weeks of the semester. But, I suspect that may not happen.
In a related thought about political b*llsh*t that again supersedes science (and logic)..... Joe Manchin... his grandstanding and political maneuvering sicken me. He is about as trustworthy as the snake in the garden of Eden. He is so filled with a need to make himself the spotlight, and he doesn't give a royal rat's *ss about national policy nor his own region. He only cares for himself. His actions show him to be a true Republican at heart..... but even though I do not ascribe to Republican ideals myself..... I WOULD suggest that Republicans should not embrace him either, for he will turn on them too.... if it makes him more "famous". There is really NO logical reason to not support Biden's plan of action to rebuild and repair our infrastructure. It has been neglected since the early 1980s. The bill *SHOULD* be supported 100% by all Democrats.... and at least any remaining "old school" Republicans that may still exist.... it should have passed easily many months ago.
I have been contemplating quite a bit about my pipes and pipe tobaccos. I want to go back to them. I am thinking that since I have not had feelings of "deep yearning" for them for a few weeks, if perhaps I could make a go of enjoying them again, but in a way that is in keeping with how I *think* I may be able to do so with relative safety? I am wondering if this "old dog" can learn some new tricks, namely:
1. Smoking my pipes only on an occasional basis, perhaps 2-3 times a week.
2. Could I learn and adapt to the above sort of indulgence after having had such a beautiful prior experience of simply indulging at will?
3. Or, will re-engaging with my beloved pipes and pipe tobaccos simply reawaken the full-bore passions for them in my mind and body so that if I even attempt to learn to be "occasional" I will just be in a perpetual state of unfulfilled desire for them other than those 2 or 3 times a week?
4. Or, even more worrisome, if the full-bore passions arise in their strongest form, will I have any real resolve to resist? Or will I simply dive back into my prior level of indulgence?
I really do not know how I would respond to that first time back of nurturing the flame into melding with the tobacco leaf, creating the warm, amber glow within the bowl.
PipeTobacco
8 Comments:
I agree with your comments on politics 100% and am equally frustrated and disheartened. My daughter's college has a rash of Covid cases and should have gone to virtual when they came back from Thanksgiving break. I'm not sure what the plan is for them in January.
As long as you are able to refrain when you are in a public setting that requires abstinence, does it really matter whether you smoke your pipes twice in a week or twice in a day?
As for COVID, I'm led to believe that stress is one of the aggravating factors that can affect the severity of an infection. Apart from some inconclusive research that tobacco use may confer some minor degree of protection against COVID, let's not forget the good your pipes can do in mitigating stress. Joe Manchin can't get in the way of that!
Right now you seem to be captive to a host of worries. Even if you became a willing captive of your pipes and decided not to moderate your consumption at all, wouldn't you in many ways be better off than you are right now? Far better to be a slave of "full-bore passions" than a slave of fear, Professor!
“Full bore passions” would typically end up being 4-6 bowls full a day, with perhaps one or two more on holidays and weekends. :)
Joe Machin ... out of words. And for the few good but chicken liver Repubs too.
I don't understand why people vote against there own interest.
Coffee is on and stay safe
Is there not a physical addiction component to tobacco use? However well-intentioned you are or however much you currently lack the deep yearning for it right now, wouldn't starting to use it again trigger the physical addition? I'm not familiar with pipe use, only cigarettes, so I don't know the answer, but I would worry about that piece of the puzzle.
And, yes, politics seems to have devolved into self-centred self-promotion too much of the time. Not all politicians have gone there, but too many have.
*addiction* not addition!
I appreciate jenny_o's concern about addiction, but if our Professor has proved anything over the last 4+ years, it is that his particular dependence/addiction to the nicotine in his pipe tobacco is (1) something he has shown the willpower to overcome, and (2) by far the lesser part of what draws him to his pipes and tobaccos.
Some have observed that pipe smokers are typically much more "psychologically" hooked on the entire ritual of pipe smoking than they are to the nicotine in their tobacco. If all someone wanted was a nicotine hit, cigarettes are vastly more efficient than pipes at delivering that hit quickly and powerfully.
Indeed, the Professor has written about carrying a pipe around for comfort and solace, even without smoking. Can you begin to imagine an abstinent cigarette smoker carrying a pack of cigarettes for similar comfort, without relapsing quickly? Of course not!
Maybe if the Professor could change his entire psychology, as well as his heritage and life experiences, he could become a contented non-smoker. But from all he has written here, it sure seems to me that he is and always will be a pipe smoker; the only question is whether he will choose to continue as a non-smoking pipe smoker or whether he will at some point return to his former joys.
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