The Golden Years
This is for all our retired pipers of which, I believe, there are at least a few. How has retirement changed or enhanced your pipe smoking activities? Aside from "having more time to smoke", has it had any other impact? Does the smoke seem thicker? The flavors enhanced? The overall pleasure even more pleasurable? How and why? The rest of us losers who must still earn a paycheck want to know! After all, we need to have SOMETHING to look forward to besides back pain and hemorrhoids!
Comments
The change is radically different for me. Your thought process changes once you've retired so your mind is uncluttered with the pressure associated with work. Back when I was still gainfully employed even those hours when I was away from the job - in what should have been that moment of solitude between me and my pipe - was often intruded upon by rehashing problems at work or contemplating what new Hell lay in wait for me the following day. My pre-retirement pipe smoking should have been a therapeutic head cleansing session but was instead an unpaid extension of the 8 hour work day as I took mental notes for tomorrow's activities as if my brain were a Franklin Daily Planner. Now when I sit in meditation puffing my pipe, my mind is free to wander to the past, present or speculate on the future. I vividly recall events from the past ... long forgotten childhood memories become crystal clear and faces from decades past come into focus in High Definition. For the retiree, the quite contemplation of pipe smoking continues to exercise and stimulate the brain without over-taxing it with calculations or problem solving. And once the initial apprehension we all have after making the transition to retirement subsides, and realize things will be different (and often times better) after a career, well that first retirement bowl will be oh so sweet.
It really makes me feel a lot better, knowing that no one has felt the need to mention Depends.
I came down with my second case of shingles about 2 weeks ago, and felt like I not only got ran over by a train, but got dragged for miles. I must have bought about 17 bottles of the pink stuff, but I refused to even walk down the isle where they keep the Depends.