Tim is right that my father took up pipe smoking, and cigars-- which I
HATED, in mid-life and he did enjoy the antisocial effect it had; when
he lit up a cigar, most human beings skedaddled out of his airspace.
He didn't have to say or do anything else. Perfect! The pipe was less
of a pesticide than the cigar, particularly when he was using the
aromatic pipe tobacco that was my favorite. It was called Amphora Blue
and it had an aromatherapy type of effect, almost like what people try
to achieve with incense. The pipe had a whole ritual around it, a
talent in a way, whereby you had to "get the hang of it"-- of lighting
it and of keeping it lit. The lucky thing about it is, it doesn't
explode if you do it wrong, which is probably good... (sorry... can't
help it!)(and you can always relight it, which he had to do often as
he was learning) He also loved the beauty of some of his pipes: the
burl woods can be just gorgeous when they are polished, and each pipe
smoker has a favorite shape or two (there are endless shapes of pipe
bowl and of the length of and bends in the mouthpiece that fits into
the bowl, for that matter). He even had a Calabash which I referred to
as his Sherlock Holmes pipe. The shape and size of the bowl are
intensely personal and it's one of those things that a pipe smoker has
to find for himself because no one can buy one as a gift and expect it
to be used very often, as my mother found out. In any case, smoking
the pipe was sort of a meditative aid for my father, the way staring
at the ocean is for me. It provides a good background for higher
thought processes.
For me, the scent of aromatic pipe tobacco has powerful memories
attached. It's part of what I collectively refer to as "Daddy-smell",
along with certain types of aftershave... And somehow, the music of
Bach provides the perfect civilized counterpoint to the pipe smoke for
me, because my father always had classical music playing in the
background when he was working, at home, and Bach's music was one of
his definitions of "civilized".
Judith
PS: Tim, if you take up the pipe, remember; Don't inhale. It's smoked
for the taste only. The smoke is far too caustic to be brought into
the lungs.
----- Original Message -----
From: Pete Giansante <mailto:***>
To: *** <mailto:***>
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 4:55 AM
Subject: [ROSEN] A Civilized Vice
Hi Tim & John M.
John M. wrote:
I am not the pipe-smoking scientist in the armchair at the
fireplace watching that little quirk universe as it swirls
around in the ashtray.
Tim Gwinn wrote:
As for pipe-smoking, I seem to recall that Rosen took it up later
in life - as a bit of rebellion against political correctness, I
think I read. I've been thinking of taking it up, now that I have
a front porch. All I need is to get a good rocking chair and a
whittling knife....
According to Judith, RR was a devoted pipe smoker... yet another
reason why he was a man after my own heart. Einstein too...
another mentor-in-absentia. I've been a pipe smoker for over 40
years, and it's a great comfort to me as I work. If it's a vice,
it's a most civilized one. I can't say I've ever spent much time
contemplating the contents of the ashtray, John M. ...and there
isn't much use for a fireplace here in Southern California.
Nevertheless, a fine pipe with mellow weedage fosters the
contemplative, relaxed, highly focused state that my work
requires. With it, I can work for hours on end.
I think Tim's onto something with his porch thing. I do most of my
work on the back patio, which I suppose is SoCal's moral
equivalent of a porch. Hour upon hour before the PowerBook®
screen... the breeze up here in the hills carrying the smoke away
to the owls who hoot their accompaniment throughout the night. I
don't know whether they like it, but they keep coming back.
They're out there now.
Maybe they just recognize a civilized vice when they see one. ;-)
Pete