I Want to Smoke a Pipe

Conversation at lunch today took an interesting turn. Eleven of us were dining at Richards thanks to Emily's suggestion (Ceballo's had a forty minute wait...). Shirley was at one end with all the kids, Faye, Dad and Mum and I were at the other end. A nice arrangement.

Ordering the food prompted an interesting conversation about beets. What restaurant serves beets as a side-order? Well, Richards does - Harvard Beets no less (though it's not on the menu...). Mum and Faye were quite delighted at the opportunity to add beets to their lunch. Faye came back from the salad bar with pickled beets, which were kind of tasty. But they leave an after-taste of dirt. Mum insisted I try some Harvard Beets, I was a bit hesitant. After taking the boys out for a restroom break, I came back and both Faye and Mum had scarfed down their Harvard Beets! They told me I took too long in the restroom!

Well, then the really interesting conversation began. I don't even know how it started, but Faye and Mum began reminiscing about the good ol' days when they were P.E. teachers. They waxed nostalgic about smoking pipes at the end of the school-day as they drove home from Angola to Huntington. What??? My mum smoking a pipe? Oh yes, Faye said, we even smoked cigars! Yes, my Mum insisted, on the way home from school we'd rip off chunks of bread and eat it with swiss cheese.  This all makes for a very interesting picture in my head. And it makes me want to smoke a pipe. And eat some Italian bread and swiss cheese!