One Important Time

This time of the semester for me is the last week of "big voice" lecturing ahead of Final Exam Week (which is next week).  But, in addition to my usual "big voicing" teaching this week also always entails a lot of monotonous checking, rechecking, and fussing with grades of assignments, of exams, and of various end of the semester projects students are turning in, or are attempting to turn in.  This monotonous work involves many long hours of feeling akin to an accountant.... a job I would never wish upon anyone due to its drudgery.  

I guess I should modify that a bit.... I have known a couple of folks who absolutely RELISH the machinations of being an "accountant".  I modify the above..... therefore.... by more accurately stating that the work of accounting is JUST NOT A JOY for my own particular mindset.... to me it is pure tedium, pure drudgery.  

Except.... back when I allowed myself..... my beautiful, flavorful, invigorating pipes and pipe tobaccos quelled and smoothed out MUCH of this tedium and drudgery.   At this time of the semester, my prior norm would entail my pipe consumption increasing often to close to double a "typical" day.  I so valued the aromatic aromas and flavors swirling about me as I worked, I so very much found gentle solace in the stimulation and flooding of the nicotinic receptors in my hypothalamus, and I so benefited from the mental focus and mental stamina of my pipe tobaccos helping me stay on task during this monotony. 

It is rather too easy these days, to drift off task to damn near ANYTHING else other than this important, but still wholly monotonous, fussy "checking" and "rechecking" and "figuring".  And, perhaps a case in point, is that I felt it was "incredibly critical" for me to come here to post this..... instead of doing the fussing and figuring I should be doing.  :)

If I were a cowboy, I would be trying to lasso my mind back onto task much in the ways a cowboy would lasso a steer.  I will have to try to be a metaphorical cowboy.... or this week will get progressively more challenging.

One final thought.... when my wife experienced her injury just ahead of Valentine's Day.... my schedule, my patterns went into disarray.  I need to wrangle that back into submission too.  I am hoping/thinking that perhaps sometime this week, I will return to having one post a week be again where I try to answer comments I receive.  I like doing that and I have also found it helpful.  

PipeTobacco