THE CHILDREN

Plans today: pipe, lunch, lunting, milk tea, lunting, evening tea, and lunting. In any case food and milk tea. And lunting. Because, of course, the non-smoking apartment mate is home, it being a holiday. Lunting, from 16th. century Dutch "lont" entered the English language as a verb for walking around with a smoldering taper (lont: whick, fuse) for (re)lighting a pipe which had gone out, then matches became more common and the pipe, presumably still lit, stayed as the action or focus of the verb.
So, to wander about lazily, smoking one's briar.
Which in the modern world triggers people.

It's a good thing I do not enjoy flavoured tobaccos, because in many places those have been banned. Apparently they are totally irresistible to little children, who might take up pipe smoking because it smells "so good".
Yes, the anti-smokers are convinced that the kiddies will upon smelling the cherry strudel cake in my briars immediately go out and purchase fine smoking pipes and tobacco. In sincere childish imitation!

It's all about the tots.

There will be at least two hot cups of milk tea. Because middle-aged fellas sometimes have cold fingers. And might want to observe other humans not freezing, indoors, with happy snacks and sweets.

And, of course, it's all about the tots.

Easily impressionable tots.


I suspect that I'll probably end up enjoying Baked Portuguese Chicken Rice around two or three in the afternoon at a place right in the centre of C'town, then observing elderly people in the park, unless it's too noisy and there are too many tourists. It is unlikely that I'll have a book with me.

Two pipes. Aged Virginia tobacco. Gloves.


If any kids wish to follow my example, smoking a pipe filled with something old fashioned, swilling tea, grumbling about their stiff knee (worse in chilly weather), and just observing the normal people through the window pane, having another pipe full, fingers gradually turning blue from cold....

Well, I'll be happy to tell them how to do it.

It's all about the tots.




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