Reflections

 Mt wife says that sometimes I get rather philosophical in my posts here, but then I am a theogian/philosopher about life and living.  I don't want this blog to be just about pipe smoking.  I don't want it to be religious or political, although I write quite a bit about my Spirituality.  But it's just about me.  I don't pretend to be something I'm not.  But one might say I am just an old curmudgeon interested in many things.  

You know I'll include pipes, pipe smoking, and tobacco in every post.  I celebrated my 72nd birthday yesterday, but it was  a quiet day with just my wife and I.  And I guess I am feeling a little reflective about life, but I've learned not to compare myself to others.  Many never made it this far.  And every year I read about the deaths of famous people and hope they found the meaning of life.  

I am quite happy to have lived in the 50's and came to adulthood in the 60's.  I call myself a child of the 60's because of all the changes from life in small town America from the 50's.  I'm glad to have that historical perspective these days.  I like to begin my Sundays with a cup of coffee while listening to Chip Davis' recording of Sunday Morning Coffee on Spotify.  This just sets the mood of a Sunday morning.

I like a good cup of medium roasted coffee in the mornings.  But this morning I am drinking Trader Joe's Breakfast roast, which is darker and richer.  And yes, I am smoking my Arcobalena Blue pipe this morning as I write this.  The tobacco is Revelation by Sutliff.  It was Einstein's tobacco of choice.  I put it in a wish list and my wife chose it as a gift.  I'll review this tobacco in tomorrow's post.  This morning, however, I am reflecting back over my 72 years of life and living.  Nearly 50 of those years has been spent with the same woman.  I wouldn't have survived without her, but sometimes I'll reflect over my choices in life, and I'll wonder.  

But I say every choice was spot on.  But how can I say this without regrets? I say it is what it is and nothing is forever.  I have a quote from Martin Luther on a plaque that says, "I have held many things in my hands and have lost them all.  But that what I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess." This is how I see my life at 72.  My pipes are tools for meditation.  I possess most every pipe I have ever owned.  There is a reason for this.  

My pipes are a part of my Spiritual journey of life.  Together they tell a story.  It is uniquely my own.  No one else in the world has a pipe collection like mine.  My pipes know all my thoughts.  I have written many things while smoking a pipe.  They are my thinking tools.  I have read many books while smoking a pipe.  And they have been a part of me as long as my wife has been a part of me, but in a completely different way.  I began smoking a pipe about the same time my wife came into my life.  

But the past 72 years have been uniquely my own story and I am alive to keep the story going.  Her journey has been in large part with me.  So, those are my thoughts this morning and I thank you for letting me share a part of my journey with you.   Peace to each one of you.

Dave