Mini-Comments Day
With the ongoing need to work with my students for their upcoming talks, I am writing a brief mini-comments post today... with the idea that these are just a few thoughts from a few comments..... there are several others I do wish to explore further, but with time limited today, this is what I can do.
AC stated:
"....[he] was observing that pipes produce ash. Sounds like it keeps with the season in one respect."
Haha! That is very true. I remember quite fondly a cute comic that was published in our Dioceses' Catholic Newspaper back in the late 70s or early 80s where the kids in the comic were play-replicating Ash Wednesday. The kid "priest" used one of his father's neckties for the orarium (stole) and was using one of his dad's spent, cold pipes with left over ash in the bowl as the ashes he was distributing to his playmate "parishioners." I cut out that comic from the newspaper, and probably have it in some box somewhere. I would like to see it again. It was cute.
GaP stated:
"It's very obvious that you love your pipes and tobacco, Professor. They gave you great joy."
Yes, that is true. I do love my pipes and pipe tobaccos. Whether I SHOULD love them or not is the harder to answer question.
Margaret stated:
"You are a determined person."
I can say that I relish being thought of as a determined person, so I thank you for that pleasant complement. But in my heart/mind I believe I am a very LAZY person. I TRY regularly and with a lot of energy to force myself to do things I think I should do, things I can do, and things I need to figure out how to do. But, if push comes to shove, I sadly am rather a lazy lout in most ways, which I dislike about myself. If I were determined, I believe I would have more of an innate sense of directionality in what I do. Mostly, what I seem to do is to try to fix things, for my family, for my students, and I try to fix myself.
Pat stated:
"...you would find it uncomfortable to "fast" from the Retirees Cigar Group during Lent... ...I would suggest that you attempt a cigar/Group fast for Lent. But my guess is that such a fast would be much too hard for you to maintain."
Hmm. I do know that I relish the friendship of the "Retiree's Cigar Group". Even with one or two stragglers when I have to be late, it feels important for me to be there. And, yes, I can admit that having a cigar is pleasant. But it has never been in any appreciable sense a sufficient "replacement" for my pipes and pipe tobaccos. You may be correct about the nicotine aspect, but I am not sure. But, I do know that I would feel a sense of loss at not going to the "Retiree's Cigar Group". I will have to keep in mind and think about what you suggest about either giving up the "Retiree's Cigar Group" for Lent, or the converse of "giving up the abstaining from my pipes" for Lent. Both ideas create very muddied thoughts in my mind, and I am not sure how to proceed. But, I will think more on both ideas and eventually try to write more about what I can figure out. I have to think deeply about how to make this Lent as meaningful a pathway of cleansing and renewal as I can figure out.
* * * * *
- 10 rather pleasant miles this morning.... even though it was the zillion-billion loop style on the indoor track. It felt good. No muscle discomfort (my gastrocnemius was acting up a bit last week). The only damage was that I bashed my forearm into a pointed edge of a metal post on the track in one of my loops. When I undressed to wash and get ready for the U, I found I had punctured the skin (under my exercise shirt) and needed a bandaid and some antibiotic ointment.
- My wife and I are HOPING TO SWIM this late afternoon. It should be relaxing.
- My wife has put on (in the Crockpot) one of our favorite lentil dishes. I have missed it, having eaten the last frozen portion several weeks ago. It is rich and spicy, and the texture of the lentils is wonderful, especially because we substitute 1/2 mung beans in the original recipe (instead of ALL lentils, we have a mix of 1/2 lentils and 1/2 mung beans.
The fellow in the image is not me, but his beard shape is similar to mine this morning.
PipeTobacco
3 Comments:
If you have a similar beard, that is quite cool. You once encouraged me to grow mine, but it doesn't grow that way. Right now, I have it a bit too short, however.
That's a cool beard! Is yours white? From the outside, you seem very determined and have excellent follow through. But in your mind, you are lazy. Self-sabotage?
Ultimately, Professor, your spiritual journey is yours and yours alone. Is there some aspect of that journey that denigrates pipe tobacco as enjoyment? I am a lapsed Catholic of the rural Quebecois persuasion being from New Hampshire. (My forebears hark from La Belle Provence) I've lost count of how many Fathers and brothers I've seen smoking pipes in pictures...whether at some Catholic University football game or even just chatting with a parishioner. When I was a student at West Side Catholic Regional, there was a jolly soul named Father Biron who would not be caught out in public view without a pipe clenched between his teeth. Being a pipe-man made you happy, Professor. I would even venture to say that if formed a significant cornerstone of your identity judging by your blog entries. Even throughout your abstention, you write about them pretty much every day. I was reading your blog before I began my halting, fledgling steps onto my own pipe-man evolution. And your passionate, poetic descriptions of the leaf, the bowl, and the briar played no small part in my beginning of that adventure. It was not a smooth progression, but I consider myself out of the newbie stage at least. I have the cadence down, the lighting method, (I EVEN got schooled in how to light with a MATCH. Tres 20th Century, no?) and even a preferred tobacco. (Norman Rockwell's Portrait. An aromatic, I believe.) I'm still learning, I've made great friends from the hobby even though I sometimes feel like a fraud, playing at being a proper pipe-man. Many mentors in that journey, sir...and you were one of them, believe it or not. I miss that Happy(ier) Professor surrounded by a cloud of pipe-smoke. He seemed to have a certain joie de vivre underneath all of the tedious drama that life could throw at him. And -you-, Professor, have a lot on your plate on any given day. I greatly appreciate your blog, the detailed nuance of it, your commitment to it...You strike me as a good, honorable man, Professor. A man who takes on a LOT. Many spinning plates, many juggled balls in the air. If smoking a pipe in any way ameliorates that stress or puts some jolly back in your soul, I don't see how that could ever be a bad thing. Only one man's opinion. Always good to see a fresh entry from you, Professor!
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