It's late Saturday afternoon and I've completed all of my weekend chores and now it's time to adjorn to the "cave" and fire up a cigar or a bowl in one of my pipes, the same thing my granddad used to do back in the day. Wait, am I morphing into my granddad? This can't be, I'm not an old man, I don't think I am anyway. Is this what cigars and pipes represent, being old? Quick somebody call the Age Police, something is happening to me.
Well, even though I'm closer to 60 than I am 50, I don't think or feel like I'm old and "no" this isn't what cigars and pipes represent. What it does represent is a different appreciation or maybe a better appreciation and understanding of life. I find myself spending a lot of time in my cave and normally I'm enjoying a fine cigar or pipe smoke and more than likely, reading something or surfing the net researching something regarding cigars and pipes. Or even enjoying a virtual "Herf" with my online smoking crew in one of the several social media groups I belong to (which is another blog for another time), or just enjoying life. Even though my grandfathers are no longer with us, man how I wish I could've spent a little more time with them when I was old enough to truly enjoy a good smoke, I think the conversations would be so awesome. Being able to understand their thoughts about their smoking game, the ups and downs of life and now being able to "compare" notes. Just the possibilities...
That's one of the reasons I introduced my son, and other younger folks to the cigar and pipe game. I'm hoping to pass on a hobby that was passed on to me, that is slowly being taken away from us with all of the political attacks on tobacco. Hoping to have younger generations understand how magical this game is, in the sense of being able to actually have civilized discussions about life, politics, sports, religion etc., make business connections, making new friends, the works. I've had some of the greatest as well as heated conversations about those things at my local brick and mortar and ironically no one was ever wiped off the face of the earth. I actually have re-examined some of my views and have had others say the same thing to me regarding their views on life over a cigar or pipe smoke. Those conversations from where I sit, don't seem to happening a lot anymore. Everybody is too busy texting these days and not having that human interaction that is needed so much. The opportunity to sit and look another person in the eyes and express your feelings about your views, get a rebuttal, and debate the point. Who knew that could happen when you were enjoying your cigar or pipe.
Back to this "old" thing, I remember when I couldn't wait for the weekend so I could go clubbing or hanging out, ripping and running nonstop, now I plan during the week what my smoke lineup will be for the weekend, especially if I've purchased something new I hadn't tried yet. I meticulously plan and think about what I'll drink with that smoke, what music I'll listen to, what movies or television shows I may watch, which book I might read and finally when Friday hits, it's like heaven. After work, I get home and set my plan in motion and it's on! Change into something comfortable (including my slippers), prepare my drink, grab my smoke selection and retreat to the cave and there "she" is, my recliner. WTF? A recliner, are you effing kidding me? Yes, my recliner has become my security blanket sort to speak. It's where I find myself on many nights and I tell you, there's no other place I'd rather be. There's just something about the solitude of the cave, my recliner and a fine smoke. All of the world's troubles just seem to disappear and life is good. Sometimes it's just for a couple of hours, other times it's all night into the early morning, and I mean early morning. Recently I searched my streaming services for every cigar, pipe, tobacco movie or documentary I could find and what started out at 6:30 pm, lasted until 4:30 am the next morning although I did sneak in about a 30 nap around 1:00 am, that damn "old" thing again. And to be perfectly honest, it was one of the best Friday nights I've had in my life.
I've learned more about things I never imagined I would be interested in, and with the ability to research via the internet, it has been wonderful. As far as the cigar and pipe game, I belong to a few social media groups as I mentioned earlier that are interesting to say the least. One in-particular (I won't give out the name as it's very exclusive and members only), there are quite a few characters. Women and men for just about every walk of life you could imagine. There are many things we share, but things I like most are hearing others views regarding what they're smoking. There's the "super experienced aficionado" the "I know enough to be dangerous" and the "I have no earthly idea what I'm smoking or doing, but I like it" person, and I learn something from each and every one of them. I recently mentioned that I'd been enjoying the smoking lifestyle for almost 34 years and somebody said "hell, I was two when you started smoking cigars" (the old thing again). The cool thing was at that very moment I realized I had gained the attention of a much younger generation and it was in a cigar and pipe group. That's really the beauty of it all, in my opinion. There's one gentleman who typically on Sunday evenings prepares his "weekly pipe smokes" and I find it pretty interesting when he does. It gives me an opportunity to compare notes and see what he's smoking that I may not have tried to this point. It's also pretty interesting to see the reviews folks post and again, compare notes to see what their thoughts are about a particular cigar or pipe tobacco.
There's a beauty to getting "older", and I say that for whatever age you may be. If you pay attention, you might just learn something, especially in the smoking game. There's a couple of guys who refer to me as "Triple OG" and I'm still embracing that moniker, but I do consider it an honor, as having a 30 something son, and I know it's meant as a sign of respect, and isn't that what most folks only want, respect? So I'm about to fire up a bowl in one of my pipes and just accept that I am getting old and be thankful that I am. Hopefully the next time you're in a brick and mortar or participating in a social media group diccussion, go ahead and offer something, you never know who's listening and don't be afraid of "getting old".
Until next time...........CLP (clip, light and puff).
Gregory
(____GC__________]]]]~~~~
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