Why Pipe Smoking is Important to me...

This applies to a few of the things that I enjoy. Pipe smoking, beer, tea, there should be a few other delicate pleasures on this list. Why is pipe smoking so important to me? It is not to be esoteric, or somehow more selective than other people. I would never want to be the fellow who looks down his nose at someone who seemed to know less than I do about an issue of taste. This is not usually very difficult because I know very little, when it comes right down to the point. But, the reason why it is so imprtant: It makes me slow down and pay attention to what is happening right now. Each puff is like a puff of freedom. I don't need to concern myself with what the next puff of the pipe will taste like, I can focus on this one. I can wait until the smoke has rolled around my mouth for several seconds to exhale it slowly out of my nose at first and then blowing the balance out of my mouth and watching the beautiful smoke float away and dissapate into the night time air. This is what I appreciate about pipe smoking. Most people don't know that I smoke. I would classify it as being integral to my self image. Of course I don't know that there is any taste or activity that I would want to affect other's veiw of me. I would rather that category be filled by the sort of sentiments like: "Brad, you mean the guy who Jesus loves? Yeah, I've met him." This was introduced to me all over again when I roasted coffee for the first time. Having been involved in the process enable me to slow down and appreciate the experience. The feel in my mouth. The different highs and lows in both flavor and sensation. This is also the case with tea. I suppose I like any taste or sensual experience that causes me to slow down and pay attention to it. I admit, I often drink coffee and just drink it. Looking only for the affect of the drug. I also consume food with the same cold indifference to just get the food in. Never paying attention to the great pleasure and complex joys that God made eating an apple to be. I want less of that type of "cramming it in" experience to occur in my life. The real payout? I waste countless moments of time just "surviving". Just getting along. I sit with my children and think about what I will do once they are in bed. This is a worse injustice then smoking a pipe and not tasting. There is no way to compare this horrible oversight with taking a cup of coffee for granted. I want to learn to appreciate the coffee, appreciate the pipe, appreciate the tea in hopes of learning to appreciate the evenings I get to spend with my beautiful wife. I hope, through enjoying that simple moment of pipe smoke I will spend the next afternoon with my children and cherish each beautiful second. And that, my friends, is what makes pipe smoking so important to me today.