Pipeology - The Fine Art of Pipe Smoking and Thought

 We bought a waterbed about 35 years ago and kept it for many years until we woke up in the middle of the night one night from something wet.  It seems a cat we owned decided to sharpen its claws on the bed and put the tiniest of holes in the mattress filled with water.  We decided then we had to drain the bed and clean out all the water between mattress and liner and get a new mattress, which would have been a conventional mattress.  What a mess! But I read this morning that waterbeds have not really not gone away.  I can tell you they are very comfortable as they wrap your body in warmth, which on a cold winter's night was very comforting.  It is almost like sleeping on an air mattress.  There are billows in the mattress that prevent waves and from disturbing your partner as you toss and turn.  We bought waterbeds for our kids, and we had waterbeds in some form or another for about 20 years.   Having cats put a damper on our desire to ...

 Status is generally about position in society and wealth.  Pipe smoking has reflected that to some degree, although I will often read about a grandfather who smoked a pipe, or sometimes a father, who would buy a pipe from the local drugstore at a cost of about $12.50 with a pack of Half and Half or maybe a tin of Prince Albert for about 50 cents and smoke that pipe until it either broke or wore out and he'd just buy another one.   I told my wife yesterday that I think I paid $35 for my first pipe in 1973 or 1974 and I bought a tobacco humidor and a very nice ashtray all for around $100.  And that same hundred dollars is about $600 in today's money.  The pipe alone would have been a little over $200 in today's economy.  But there is no way that pipe is even close to $200 in today's pipe world.  It's just that one can't compare money and inflation to things purchased.  I saw a TV ad from 1954 advertising a brand new TV for $500.  That sam...

 If anything happened to my pipes or my new cabinet or anything else I might own, they are only things.  I can live without things.  I don't drink enough alcohol to be an alcoholic, for example, so no, I don't need alcohol.  I'm writing this today as a reminder as to why I smoke a pipe.  I smoke a pipe for meditative purposes and for relaxation.  There are  no other reasons why I smoke a pipe.  I am not addicted to my pipes or the tobacco I put in them.   It is a known fact  that cigarette smokers smoke cigarettes because they are addicted to them.  I watch a lot of YouTube videos and one video I watched was about tobacco commercials from the late fifties through the sixties.  Those commercials sold cigarettes as pleasure and enjoyment with no mention of nicotine in any of the two hour video of ads.  The emphasis was on what cigarettes could do for you.  A lot of research and planning went into the filters of cig...

  I left my other pipe cabinet behind in NY and my wife said the color of it and style just didn't fit here in our new place.  I have been shopping at the two local thrift stores for anything I could use as a cabinet.  After several visits to each of the thrift stores, I thought I would have to pay full price for something new.  I had several cabinets picked out on Amazon, but wasn't happy about the prices.  I almost hated the idea of leaving my other cabinet behind in NY, because I had gotten used to it and I liked it.   We were at Aldi's a few weeks ago and they had a display of the above cabinet at full price.  We talked about it then, but decided to wait. I'm glad we did because we went back last week and they had the same cabinet at 50% off.  I told my wife that even at a thrift store, we could expect to pay about that same price for something used.  So, we bought it.   I spent an hour or so yesterday assembomg the cabinet...

 Now, I know a lot of my readers aren't into wines, but while this isn't all about wine, it is about wine here is south Florida.  First of all, whenever we talk with family, we are constantly asked whether we are staying down here, or whether this is like a winter home of some kind.  Let me set the record straight.  We ARE staying down here.  This is not a temporary place, although how long we will be at this address isn't known.  But I would say we will remain residents of Cape Coral indefinitely.  Whether we live here in this house or find a place of our own.  The one thing I have noticed here in Florida is how abundant wines are in grocery stores compared to living in NY.   I have six bottles of wine in our storage unit with an average cost of about $17 per bottle.  Having said this, I read of a Sommelier who has tasted over 15,000 varieties of wine.  He says the sweet spot for wine is between $30 and $50.  He says all ...

 We were discussing among ourselves with our houseguest yesterday about the Burrowing Owl that claims this part of Florida as their home.  There is a Burrowing Owl Festival here in Cape Coral on Saturday February 25.  Our houseguest went for a walk in the area the other night and encountered a large black bird and wanted to know what it was.  Of  course we weren't sure, but we thought she had encountered a Burrowing Owl.   There are only 10,000 breeding pairs of Burrowing Owls with some as far away as Alaska, some in California, and some here in this area of Florida and other parts of the state.  They are nocturnal birds and are relatively small for being owls.  They average nine inches in height with an average wingspan of 21 inches.  They are sandy in color.  But what I find interesting is that here in Cape Coral, the city puts up perching crosses near the holes of Burrowing Owls.  Their range is anywhere in the Western Hemis...

 There are a lot of places on social media where pipe smokers can meet with the one notable being Facenook.  I signed up on TikTok, but don't ask me why.  If you look for me I go by the name of Howdy Doody.  He was a marionette puppet with a real person Cowboy Bob and Claribell the clown who was actually played by Bob Keeshan of Captain Kangaroo fame.  Well, I needed a name and even Howdy Doody is slightly before my time.  But it's the first thing that came to my mind for some silly reason. I won't be on TikTok much at all, if any.  I've found TikTok to be for Geneation Z and Facebook belongs to Boomers, pretty much.  There are exceptions to both, but as a general rule.  I really have no business being on TikTok, but there I am without a clue as to how it works.  But I'll figure it out.  Maybe. I am smoking my Tim West pipe this morning with a bowl of my Good Stuff mix with Lane BCA.  I like this blend so much that I might blen...

 There are 2600 palm tree species in Florida and only 12 of those are native to the state.  I don't have to go down the list of all the species in Florida that are not native to the state.  I wrote about Iguanas recently  none of which are native to the state.  There are over 900 species of Geckos world wide.  Of those, 14 species reside in Florida, and only one of those species is native to Florida.   An emaciated alligator was discovered in a pond in NYC recently, which was so emaciated it could barely move.  Someone thought a little Alligator would be cute to own until it gets big enough to kill the owner.  Same way with little Pythons that grow up to be big Pythons and can swallow a small child.  Pythons have pretty much taken over the Everglades.   I don't know what the solution is to solve this problem other than to say people must be educated about introducing foreign animals not native to this country, letting them...

  All the forums about pipe smoking are dedicating today to what pipe smokers are smoking and which pipes they are smoking it in.  I thought about my sole Peterson pipe or my Savinelli pipes, but I decided on my J. M. Boswell pipe.  It probably is among my favorite smoking pipes, but then too, I thought about my sole cob pipe, or even my Lee Van Cleef Meerschaum pipe.  But as to why my Boswell this morning is mostly because it has such a big bowl and I wanted a pipe with some substance. As for the tobacco this morning, I have now finished smoking the last of my Esoterica and did that first.  Then I will smoke some Taste of Temptation, which is a Missouri Meerschaum product by Sutliff.  I have smoked a few bowls of that, but my wife seems to think there are other tobacco blends I have had that had a better room note.  Perhaps the best room note tobacco I have right now is called Sunset Rum by Sutliff.  I have some Good Stuff with BCA mix I will hav...

 I've been calling this jar of tobacco I have by the wrong name.  Escudo exists, but then so does Esoterica by Dunbar.  And that is what it is if someone were to call me out on it.  So to set the record straight, it is Esoterica.  I wasn't going to write about tobacco today, but I received my shipment of tobacco last evening.  I just had time to smoke a bowl of my own mixture.   I thought at one point I wouldn't give tobacco reviews, particularly if I have had one bowl of a particular tobacco.  But in my shipment yesterday was four ounces of Lane BCA, which is a Black Cavendish.  I am not sure how to describe Black Cavendish except to say it is very dark and by itself has a kind of Licorice flavor.  Most pipe smokers won't smoke Black Cavendish by itself, but might blend it with a Virginia based maybe flavored tobacco.   Now, I have said I don't like to review a tobacco after just one bowl or even having smoked several bow...

 I took the photo above in Tulum, Mexico and is one of my favorite photos.  I wasn't really serious about my saying we should eat Iguanas to curb their population.  But then I got to thinking about it wondering if there are actual recipes for Iguana meat.  Sure enough there are.  They are referred to as Chicken of the Trees and in some Caribbean countries they are on the menu.  I read their meat is tough so it needs to be cooked for some time, but their meat is often added to soups  and gumbo.  As for hunting Iguanas, maybe standing under a tree on a chilly morning will net you one as freezing temps causes them to fall out of trees.  Iguanas are poisonous, but not to humans.  But they do have sharp teeth and their bites can be quite painful, but not lite-threatening.  According to some, Iguanas can make good pets. I might not have been clear on my topic title yesterday as my wife asked me what I meant by avoidance.  I want to a...

 Considering the simplicity of my own theological belief system, I have found it rather difficult to read most any news item that isn't either religious or political in nature.  I want to comment on something I have read or have come across that I find interesting, but given the political climate of today it's getting harder to do.  Vegetarians won't like this news story, but it is about how to control the Iguana population of South Florida.  And the solution is to just eat them.   Now, I am not going to write about eating Iguanas, but yesterday I mentioned I was smoking Escudo pipe tobacco by Dunbar Pipe Tobacco Company located in the British Isles.  I came across a forum yesterday that my wife suggested I join.  I decided to sign up, but one of the screening processes was to put in a category of somewhat obscure pipe manufacturing companies as to whether they were English or Italian.  I failed at my first attempt.  So, I had to use a t...

A Pluviophile is a rainy day person.  Gordon Lightfoot wrote a song about rainy day people.  I was searching yesterday about the meaning of "rainy day funds" and how that term originated.  We say to make hay while the sun shines, and most understand that, but rainy days in our lives are days when we might need extra cash for emergencies.  But getting back to the Pluviophile, rainy day people can sit for hours and watch the rain drops on the window.  They will often wear Grey.  But mostly, rainy day people love rainy days, so they are Pluvophiles. According to Gordon Lightfoot in his song, "Rainy Day People," they know just when to call.  They also make good lovers, because they are always around when needed for emotional support.  Karen Carpenter sang about rainy days and Mondays saying in her song she hates them.  A rainy Monday is at best depressing.  But getting back to rainy day people, such a Monday is welcomed. Here in SW Florida, ...

 My wife and I enjoy going into thrift stores just to see what we can find.  I am sort of looking for a pipe cabinet to store and display my pipes.  I just read of a man who bought a rare Swiss made watch from 1959 that was in "worn" condition and was priced at $5.99.  When he examined the watch he noticed that it was indeed a rare Swiss watch that he decided to buy.  He had it checked out and upon closer examination was quite expensive.  He sold it for $35,000 in addition to getting another $4,000 watch in trade. Now, going to thrift stores isn't going to find you that rare Picasso or some other such piece of gold, but I have seen videos where collectors of electronic equipment like tape decks or CD players can be had at a good price.  I found an older Sony receiver that I know was $400 brand new going for $30 the other day.  I was tempted, but I don't either need or want a receiver, but I thought for $30 it was a great deal. But the problem with...

 A pastor said he died and visited hell just prior to coming back to life.  He said they played music from some famous rappers, but insists hell is a real place.  When most people have near death experiences they will talk about bright lights and the tunnel and a sense of peace.  I personally don't know what to make of near death experiences, nor can anyone, except there is a common theme of peace.   Why this pastor experienced something different I cannot say, nor can anyone who has not died and come back to tell about the experience.  I won't get into religion this morning, because I don't know what to make of near death experiences never having actually died myself.  I have come near death, but I never died and came back to life and can tell about it. As to whether these people are lying just to write a book, I cannot say.  As to whether a near death experience was real by any of these people I cannot say.  I've never read a book by a...

 The US State Department has issued a warning that US residents avoid travel to Mexico particularly Spring Break college students who are native about traveling in foreign countries.  The State Department says that if you feel you must travel use taxi services and travel in groups and be aware that the major drug cartels are using resorts to launder money.  The Yucatan is sill the safest of Mexican states; tthat cities like Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum might be safe for US tourists, but still has said that major tourists destinations are risky adventures. What the major drug cartels are doing are kidnapping and murder along with extortion.  If those in college want a safe Spring Break, the popular traditional US places, mostly in Florida and Myrtle Beach are great alternatives.  Aa a side note to all this Daytona Beach is one of the most dangerous beaches in the US due to sharks and rip tides.  Daytona Beach has become less popular because the city i...

 Stress kills.  Any kind of stress does put an added burden on the heart. There is a kind of stress that develops throughout the day and chronic stress from a life event that needs attention.  Chronic stress is the most difficult stress for one to deal with.  Sometimes chronic stress requires life changes.  However, the ways to deal with stress applies to both.  But there is no question that stress kills.   There are ways to reduce stress.  Probably first and foremost is exercise.  Any exercise at all reduces stress dramatically.  Another stress reducer is socialization.  More often than not women are excellent socializers and often when a couple has been married for a long time and the wife dies, husbands can have so much stress from loneliness and they will pass away rather quickly.  Loneliness is a great cause of stress. One might find that just taking time for meditation, reflection, and time alone to ponder is good fo...

 I still watch videos about pipe smoking, including pipe smoking 101.  I decided to write about something different today.  I watch a lot of videos on YouTube.  My list includes a lot of videos about smoking a pipe. I saw a video yesterday made by a 22-year-old explaining why he smoked a pipe.  I should find it and post it below, but then I thought it's not really necessary.  I did see a video by the Surburban Pulgrim that I liked, but again, I would have to sort through all the videos in my history file to find it.   I like videos by the Pipe Cottage.  He is a university professor with a Ph.D. in history and owns a small farm in Kentucky and a pipe shop called the Pipe Cottage.  But my point is that pipes are my hobby.  I haven't yet developed skills for making my own pipes or blending my own tobacco.  But the fact is that there is more to pipe smoking than just smoking a pipe.  A lot of pipe smoking hobbiests try their h...

There is so much in tofay's world to be stressed about.  First for my information on the subject was the Colorado River and Lakes Meade and Powell.  Then it was the Mississippi, followed by the Thames and the Danube.  I think the most recent river on this list was the one that made me realize something in the world is happening to cause the great rivers of the world drying up with the most recent being the Euphrates.  Not only these, but we can add the Jordan River, The Great Dead Sea, Salt Lake in Utah, and the Sea of Gallilee.   Something is happening to great waters of this world by evaporation and over use.  It's like these great bodies of water are saying, "Enough is enough!"  But the question everyone seems to be asking is: What can be done about it? While the answer seems to be, "Not much."  The earth is changing whether one accepts global warming as the culprit or not.  But while policy makers, politicians, and territories argue ...

 Toyota isn't convinced that EV is the future of the automobile.  Toyota has been in the hybrid business longer than any car company and isn't yet convinced EV is the future of the automobile.  But then there are those of us who are wondering as to which is correct.  We don't know.  In fact neither knows with Toyota saying that EV's might not be the answer.  The reason being is the carbon footprint required for charging EV cars.   Toyota is saying that it is not yet convinced that lithoum-ion batteries are the answer.  Toyota says there are many options like hydrogen and the hybrid cars, but Toyota is constantly doing research on batteries and has yet to be convinced that lithium-ion is the answer.  While many car companies have jumped in the EV market, there are car companies that are holding out and Toyota happens to be one of them. So, is Musk a prophet, or will he be left behind if a new technology emerges? Toyota isn't yet convinced...

 I can't ignore world events.  Bit this blog is NOT about world events.  You don't need me to remind you of that which you already know.  No, I won't rehash everything going on in yhe world.  Now, I am kind of a car geek, but not as much as some.  I watch a lot of videos about classic cars.  I am not sure I have my favorite old classic cars, but I am still rather fond of the '58-'59 Edsel.   Yes, it was a quirky car with a front end grill that once seen is not forgotten.  Everyone recognizes the front end of an Edsel.  But Ford did something unique to the Edsel not found on any other car before or since.  They put push buttons for the transmission right on the steering wheel hub.  So, if someone blew their horn, they would more than likely hit the  push button for reverse and throw the car in reverse, thus ruining the transmission.   There were all kinds of quirkiness in cars in the late 50's.  I don't ...

 There is a restaurant we went to the other evening that had a kind of statue of Santa near the entrance.  He was wearing a red shirt, Bermuda shorts, sunglasses, and had a guitar in his hands. Ithe statue is indicative of the fact that Santa spends his off time on the beaches in Florida wearing a Speedo.  I don't know what it is about old guys and Speedos, but upon asking my wife if I could have one, her response was a resounding, "No!" But this brings up Santa and the Super Bowl.  It seems every year the TV cameramen find Santa Clause at the Super Bowl.  I am positive Santa will show up at the stadium at Glendale, Arizona.  Santa keeps his reindeer at the North Pole because nothing flies faster than reindeer.  But in his off time, he can be seen in both first class, and coach on airlines and some say he can afford his own plane. But Santa can be seen most everywhere at most any given time, which is no surprise.  We went to a Christmas party...

 I might write a lot this week about the Super Bowl, or maybe my thoughts on football or sports in general.  My wife and I were discussing why coaches have prayer before a game.  I said I can understand praying for safety of players, but I said both sides are praying to win.  She said that God does not choose sides.  He can't, so He must not care who wins or loses. I thought about our discussion because prayer before games gets to the heart of superstitions.  A player for the Chiefs' chided Chiefs' fans for touching the Rocky statue in Philadelphia and told them not to touch it.  I thought to myself that sports' players have all kinds of superstitions.  There are players who won't wash their socks, for example.  But that is just one example.  Sometimes it's about jewelry or shoes.  And some baseball players have just one bat.   But even prayer before games is like a superstition.  The list of superstitions in sports i...

 I don't watch late night TV and if I do learn anything from late night comedians I learn it from watching YouTube.  But once in a great while a late night's comedian might make the news, but not the headlines.  Jimmy Fallon says the Chinese balloon was kind of scary, because one, it was so big, and two, it was very high.  But, he says, the fact that it was a balloon makes it "kind of cute." Reminds me of the movie UP.  But anything having to do with balloons is kind of cute, except for clowns.   I always found clowns to be somewhat scary.  And I think IT solidified my fears, although I know there is nothing inherently frightening about clowns.  But balloons are cute unless one associates balloons with clowns, and maybe the Chinese government is trying to be clownish by sending up a balloon.  It might be kind of cute it's a balloon and not something more sinister like a spy satellite, but it does seem like the Chinese government is kind ...

 My wife and I were talking the other day about all the changes we have seen in our lifetime.  The greatest change has to be the Internet that can be accessed on our smart phones.  I said in my post yesterday to just Google the rest of the information.  But it seems that Google isn't what it once was.  There are reasons for it and the computer geeks of today are in search of the next big thing with some thinking the Internet as we know it needs to evolve.  But the evolution of the Internet now belongs to Reddit, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. How many articles have you Googled that refer you to a social Internet site asking you to sign in to read the rest?  I don't have any of these accounts and now when I Google something I get a lot of YouTube videos on the subject.  I could find those videos in my searches in YouTube.  The fact is that Google is losing ground to social media.  But even social media is aging, but Google is no longer k...

 I need to apologize for my typing errors one might find in my posts on this blog.  I am writing my posts on my phone and while I read and reread my posts before posting them, I don't always catch my typo's until later.  I do go back and correct them, but often too late.  But I thank you for bearing with me.  I am a die hard Baby Boomer having graduated high school the year of Woodstock and spent my childhood in the idylic 50's.  But there are social scientists who insist that those born from 1954-1964 should be called the Joners.  They were the ones who had to keep up with the Joneses.  Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964, with some social scientists saying that is too broad of a range and we need to divide the Boomers into two groups.  Basically, what these social scientists are saying is that we need to divide Boomers into two groups, the Hippies and the Joners, because the were the ones that believed they had to keep up with Jone...

 I am publishing this post later today, thinking I might not post at all.  But I decided I would write something later today and see what becomes of it.  We've been out most of the day running errands since this morning.  And I finally have time to relax with a pipe.  If any of you have problems with my links let me know.   I was reading yesterday about Washington DC passing a tax according to the weight of a vehicle.  I won't break it down for you here, but it seems that DC is starting a trend of taxinfmg vehicles according to weight thinking that doing so might cut down on emissions if vehicle owners won't cut down on pollution voluntarily.  It seems the heavier the car or truck the more pollution the heavier vehicles create.  According to the article, DC is the first city to put such a tax on vehicles with many cities considering such measures depending on what such a tax accomplishes for DC  I won't get into a debate about globa...

  Yesterday, as I was smoking my Shire pipe, my pipe stem developed a crack the length of the backside of the entire stem.  My wife said that I needed to just throw it away as more glue would just make it uglier and not worthy of displaying.  She suggested I might want to replace it with a nicer pipe.   I thought about writing about other things this morning, but decided that writing about Churchwarden pipes would be more interesting, at least for me.  The above pipe is from Peterson and has the Dublin shaped bowl.  Peterson pipes are relatively less expensive, but twice as much as my Shire pipe; and really, they hold up well over time.  But the above pipe is in the shape of my Shire pipe with a more exaggerated bend in the stem.   Yes, there is so much I could write about today, but I have never had to throw away a pipe before.   It was a collector's pipe, but as my wife said yesterday, what is the sense of owning a pipe I can...