Wednesday Thoughts

It is midweek.  It is the longest workday for me this semester.   But it still feels good to reach the half-way mark.  

Tuesday mornings tend to feel the most "out-of-sorts" for me this semester.  The reason why, I suspect is partially because I have band rehearsal on Monday night and typically do not get home until around 8:30pm or 9:00pm.  My wife and I always want to eat dinner together, so having an especially late dinner also leads to a tendency to stay up later than typical as well.  Last Monday, I ended up probably going to bed around 1:30am or so.... and the 5:00am alarm Tuesday morning was not music to my ears.  

We have made it a "habit" of sorts this Fall to eat most Wednesdays in the biggest dorm's cafeteria at the U after my wife picks me up and we swim.  It is a nice thing to look forward to on Wednesdays.  

I am happily acclimating well to a return to indoor track running.  Do not get me wrong.... running outside is MUCH more fun and enjoyable..... when I can do so in daylight and when it is at least 50 degrees Farenheit (~10 Celcius).  But, I had grown rather tired of running in the dark with a headlight..... and close to freezing temperatures COMBINED with utter darkness....... make the indoor track feel almost "palatial" in comparison.   

Planning for the trip to Washington (DC) is both enjoyable and stressful.  It will be wonderful to be there.  But, getting ready..... comes with challenges:

1.  Making sure our beloved hound will be taken care of..... one of our kids is planning to stay with her.... but our dog, being older.... and also rather "super attached" to me.... she sometimes (usually) acts "mopey" when I/we are away.    Our cat does quite well..... he will want MORE attention for a while upon our return, but there are really no worries about him.

2.  Making sure we pack WHAT WE NEED.  Forecasts suggest it will be rather COLD (for DC) while we are there.  So, we need to plan for that along with my having one "gussied up" outfit (sportcoat, slacks/tie etc) for my presentations.... which necessitates my bringing a pair of "dressier" shoes.... in addition to my comfortable shoes.  But, perhaps the most "worrisome" packing revolves around my bite guards (for my TMJ), spare eyeglasses, dental floss, and the snake's nest of wires to run all the "gizmos" (computer, phone, watch, etc.).  

3.  Getting to the airport "on time".  My wife is extremely ardent about meeting or usually EXCEEDING TSA guidelines on when to arrive at an airport.  I am considerably more lax about such things.... and detest sitting around in an airport, waiting and waiting.  I am especially more lax when we are leaving from a smaller airport where there will hardly be anyone about other than the passengers of the "Redeye" flight.  So, our typical morning will be my wife being agitated and wanting to leave even earlier than our long discussed, NEGOTIATED departure time determined the evening before...... "just in case" something goes wrong....and I.... knowing we will be sitting around for hours in an uncomfortable airport.... will keep trying to stall our departure time to the airport.   

4.  Getting acclimated to how we will get from the airport to the hotel.  I am actively studying the train schedules and trying to figure out the easiest way to utilize them.... then I will print out the results "just in case" I need them 

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I will have in my "carry-on" which is just a backpack..... my gizmo computer (not that I want it, but I have to meet online with some students who are "needy"), a book to read (not sure which yet), a pipe (not sure which I would like to bring..... a favorite would be wonderful..... but then I would worry that the rough airport travel could destroy it.... so I will likely bring an average work-horse pipe), and all the gizmo wires and my bite splints, and other TMJ related supplies.... and my reading glasses..... and a spare set of clothes as my "just in case".  

If I can weezle away some time, I really HOPE that Georgetown Tobacco is still pipe focused and not relegating pipes to only an afterthought.  It is the place I would truthfully want to spend my time with a pipe in hand.  That would be the most exciting goal.  It was a really beautiful place back when I was there as a young, new prof.  It was delightful to sit with and chat with other pipe smoking fellows back then.  

* * * * * 

I had a rather strange dream last night where I was at the U, working on the computer, and I had (what I thought) was my NPR Classical Music station streaming through the computer's speakers.  I was extremely tired in the dream, but was working on grading a lot of electronically submitted work from my "bazillion" students.  I started to nod off a bit, as the papers were more dull than a Sunday afternoon in a dry town...... when I caught a bit of a person speaking in the radio.... and it was my band's conductor!  He was cursing up a storm OVER TOP OF THE MUSIC HE WAS DIRECTING and was in a veritable uproar because our group was PERFORMING live in the studio for NPR... and he was mad as hell because the "low winds" were all MISSING at the performance.  The bass clarinet (me) is one of the "low winds" but it also included our bari sax player, the tuba player and the euphonium player.   The alarm on my gizmo phone awoke me before I had anything else happen in the dream beyond my realization of my absence at this special performance I had no clue about.  When I awoke, my heart was racing (~80 bpm).  

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With today being Veterans Day, I thought I would mention my Dad here, specifically relating to his service.  To me, though, he was DAD.  As you know, my Dad was a pipe smoker and I did learn the beauty of that gentle art through watching him enjoy the gentle pleasures of pipe and pouch throughout my early life.  I miss him, and I wish I could talk with him face-to-face and enjoy a pipe with him.

My Dad, who would soon be reaching his 103rd birthday, was a Veteran of World War II.  He was a member of the 101st Airborne Division of the Army.  This division was referred to as the "Screaming Eagles".  My Dad was part of D-Day (Operation Overload) and was a glider pilot and landed in the invasion of Normandy.  It was there that my Dad was shot.   Fortunately, although the wounds were quite serious, and he experienced one of the very early skin grafts to try to better seal and repair gaping wounds....he recovered.  For the rest of his life, due to his wound, he had a ~1inch X ~2 inch patch of skin in his lower trunk that even after healing, left a divot that was roughly 1/2 inch deep from that wound.  My father earned a Purple Heart and two bronze stars during his service.  

* * * * * 

I had better head to class.... hopefully the damn lights will work in the big auditorium and I can give the students their exam today.

PipeTobacco