The Thanksgiving Smoke…
Whilst sitting and contemplating what I will be smoking today, I have these thoughts…
There are a lot of things I have to be thankful for.
I am thankful that I survived a childhood before the advent of video games and electronic devices. I survived a childhood where we played outside – sometimes from daybreak to after dark. I survived a childhood where we played tackle football anywhere there was open grass. We did it without helmets, pads or our mothers standing on the sideline wringing their hands in worry.
I am thankful that I survived a childhood where we were poor. We didn’t have a television until after I was 11 or 12 years old. (I remember going next door to watch the news about JFK’s assassination when I was 10.)
I am thankful for the libraries where, once I learned to read and always had books to keep me entertained. I am also thankful for the local recycle/junkyard that was nearby. Even in the early 60s you could make money recycling cans and bottles. He also sold old comic books with the covers ripped off to kids for 5 for 10 cents. A day’s work picking up discarded beer cans along the main road netted a stack of comic books and a can of soda. A good day included a candy bar.
I am thankful I survived a childhood where I didn’t get the most expensive toys or the newest thing being sold. My first bicycle was one rebuilt by a man who lived down the street from us. The left pedal kept falling off because the threads in the crank were stripped.
I am thankful that I survived attending 7 different schools in 12 years. I was always the new kid at school. So, I developed the superpower of “blending in to the background.” It gave me the appearance of belonging.
I am thankful that I grew up smart enough to enlist in the Coast Guard before I turned 19. It was my attention to stay in for four years, get out and go to college. I consider it one of my smartest career moves.
I am thankful for my 28 months sea time on an icebreaker. It gave me the opportunity to see Alaska (twice), British Columbia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Antarctica, Chile, Peru and the west coast of Mexico. Later I would get to visit Cuba and set foot on a couple of islands in the Bahamas.
And, while not my favorite assignment, I am thankful for the 3 years we were on Governors Island in New York harbor. The first 18 months or so our living room window overlooked the Statue of Liberty. People talk in awe of watching the sunsets in Key West or on the west coast of the U.S. I’ve seen them myself. They are nothing compared to the sun setting behind the Statue.
I am thankful that after retirement from the Coast Guard, I was able to but my knowledge and experience to work in the civilian community. I am thankful that I was able to eventually start working for myself.
The “we” mentioned above is for family. I am thankful my wife of 42 years, our four children (2 boys, 2 girls), 2 daughters-in-law and one son-in-law, and nine grandchildren. I am thankful for all the good in their lives. There is no greater joy I know than being able to watch you grandchildren laugh and play.
Lastly, I am thankful that we still live in a country where we all have the right to vote and to live how we want to within the confines of the law – despite the efforts of those who want the government to tell us how to live.
I am thankful we still live in a country where it’s legal to buy LEGAL tobacco products despite the efforts of the anti-smoking fascists.
I am thankful for the abundance of choices I have when choosing my pipes and pipe tobacco. I am thankful that I can smoke my pipe while sitting in the front yard, my garage or in a wide variety of public spaces. I am thankful I don’t have to patronize businesses and cities where smoking is banned.
And, I am thankful that I live in a country where people who want to believe in God or other higher beings are allowed to do so in peace. I wish all the world would allow that.
