Pipeology - The Fine Art of Pipe Smoking and Thought

 One of the things about my smoking a pipe is that I stay out of the way.  I’m not hanging around the kitchen, but with houseguests for the holiday I am out of the way.  I could be doing other things than just sitting here smoking my pipe.  That is a New Year’s resolution.  I have too much time to myself.  But as long as I keep my weight down my wife approves of my smoking my pipe.   When I had my heart attack I was about 30 pounds overweight.  And I was smoking too many cigars.  I have my favorite cigar about once a year.  And I’ve shed those extra pounds and kept them off.  One of the benefits of smoking tobacco is that it suppresses appetite.  I’d rather smoke a pipe than anything else.  I don’t crave cigars and never have.  I gave up pipes for a while in favor of cigars and smoked pipes on occasion.   But these days it is strictly pipes with the aforementioned cigar once a year.  I watch my weight closel...

 I miss college football.  I miss the diversion it gave me.  I can be too focused on my Spirit Guides and without a diversion they get to be too much.  Even for me they can be too much.  Christmas was a nice diversion from them.  But I’m finding myself lost in thought about my Guides and they become an obsession.  I’m looking forward to the championships, but they’re not the same.   My pipes are a hobby but they are passive and give me too much time for thought.  Even my wife is noticing this about me.  I have to find another diversion to replace college football.  And I just am not into pro football enough because there is only one team I don’t want in the SB but they win every week it seems.  So, I’m in search of a replacement for college football and I’m not sure what that can be. I refuse to get into politics and I’m not really interested in making my Guides an obsession.  They can be at times.  But I need somethi...

 I got a gift card for Christmas and used it to order an estate pipe and eight ounces of a tobacco I have never tried.  I placed the order a day after Christmas and they say it will be delivered a day after New Year’s Day.  It took a couple of days for them to process the order as many gift cards were given as Christmas presents.  I’m writing about it now because normally my order would arrive on Monday or Tuesday at the latest.  But I have to wait until Thursday unless by some chance it gets here Tuesday instead. So does it matter?  Not really.  First, I have plenty of pipes and probably don’t need another and second I have a lot of tobacco left from last month’s order.  But I did get the free shipping!  The tobacco I ordered was Berries and Cream as I still have quite a bit of English left from last month.  It only has nine reviews and gets a 2.3 star rating which isn’t very good.   The reviewers either loved it or hated it with n...

 What is ‘them?”  They are New Year’s resolutions.  First of all I hate them.  They do nothing but give us guilt.  But I have one simple goal in mind, and that is to keep my weight down.  That’s about it.  When I had my heart attack fifteen years ago my cardiologist said then my ideal weight should be 185.  It’s where it is now.  It took me that long to get there.  My weight for years hovered around 195-200.   I don’t fear weight gain but I feel best at my current weight.  I’d like to stay there.  So, I’ll work really hard maintaining my current weight.  This is not a resolution as such as I’ve achieved my goal, but things like loving wife and family is nebulous at best.  A resolution should be a tangible goal.  I’m not even sure what loving wife and family more even means.  I can understand those who make promises to drink less or become vegetarian just might be things one might want to do anyway. ...

 Santa is packing his red Speedo and getting ready for the beach.  I’ll probably see him sometime in the near future down here in Florida.  He might be seen in the Bahamas or places in the Caribbean.  But he’ll be spotted.  He’ll be incognito as much as Santa can be and will be in search of seclusion.  Frankly, I’d like to join him and smoke my pipe with him.  His work is over until spring when he needs to be getting back.   Frankly, I know he’s relieved today but might be wondering about his gifts.  But nothing he can do now but learn from his mistakes and hope for a better Christmas next year.  He has a lot to think about which is why he seeks seclusion.   Frankly, no one wants to be Santa in this day and age, but he’s used to disappointment.  He focuses on the joy he’s brought and will do better next time.  He’s always seeking to do better.  In fact, we all do.  We want the next Christmas to be better than the...

 Other than sermonizers not a lot of people will want to talk about theology at Christmas, but I will.  Jesus was born so He could die for every sin except for the sins of intentionally taking a human life including our own lives.  This is the theology I inherited from my Angels.  It is why He was born.  My Angels gave me a Spring birthdate for Jesus’ birth, but every biblical researcher knows that although Jesus was likely born in the Spring no one is going to mess with December 25.  That date is in the DNA of every believer.   Changing the date of Christmas is futile at best.  But the theology of the meaning of Jesus’ life is not complicated nor is God that complicated.  I know it’s Christmas and sometimes the meaning gets lost in presents and Santa Claus.  But I’m remembering this morning as to why Jesus was born.  This simple theology would be rejected by most anyone, but while I claim to have inherited it from Angels this is as...

 According to the NORAD Santa Tracker Santa started delivering gifts at 4:00AM EDT. He’s over Papua, New Guinea, the last I checked with  NORAD Santa Tracker.   And he has 24 hours to make his delivers.  So, it’s Christmas Day in at least part of the world.  But all the fun aside, I do have fun with Santa, but there are families without little children.  So, what do families like us do about Christmas?  We treat it with loving care.  I can remember the year that Santa no longer existed in our house.   But Christmas has always been special.  As an adult, I prefer to think of Santa lounging around on a secluded beach after Christmas instead of traveling in an open sleigh in sub zero weather.  As I write from Florida this morning, it’s hard for me to think about freezing weather—let alone sub-zero temperatures.  I’m comfortable in just a sweatshirt this morning.  I can’t imagine all that  Santa has to go through today. S...

 My mom used to call the day before Christmas EVe as Christmas Eve Eve.  Not sure why she’d say this although it’s true but parents do a lot of things their kids might not understand.  I haven’t continued with her tradition but say that tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  As to what today is called can be most anything one wants to call it.  But tomorrow is Christmas Eve.   I placed an order for a gift for my wife that when I placed the order Amazon said it would arrive tomorrow.  Then AFTER I placed the order Amazon said it would be here Thursday, the day AFTER Christmas.  I could have immediately canceled the order, but then I liked the gift and thought I’d tell her on Christmas what the gift is.  I can show it to her on Amazon.  I didn’t have to get her that particular gift, but I liked it. Such are the problems of Christmas.  Things don’t always work out as expected.  I have other gifts for her, but this gift was special.  As ...

 I’m not letting football today to distract me from Christmas.  Any other time in the fall and I can give football full attention, but not today.  I’ll watch the games for their entertainment value, but I’m not forgetting Christmas is just a few days away.  There are two pro games on Christmas Day, but I won’t be paying too much attention to football between now and when Christmas is over.   I’d rather be listening to Christmas music and just enjoying the day with family.  And even today I’m not sure I care who wins or loses.  I am distracted from football today instead of the other way around.  My mind just isn’t on football.  But of all sports I enjoy college football the most.  Just not so much today.  I’d rather see the playoff games played after Christmas, but that pushes the season too far back.   I’m not thinking about Christmas dinner, because my son from Ohio is coming down tomorrow and my thoughts will be for safe tra...

There are reminders everywhere and my first Christmas after my experience with the Divine was my best Christmas up to that time.  But I find every year to be special and this year is no different.  My wife knows I love anything having to do with Angels.   And Angels this time of year are found everywhere!  We even bought a few more for this Christmas.  I keep an Angel out here on the lanai which is close by as I smoke my pipe.  But Angels can be found most anywhere this time of year.  And not just statues, but perhaps they become more visible this time of year.  I’m convinced Angels make their presence known.  And Angels appear unawares.  But maybe that is wishful thinking on my part, but I can’t help but think Clarence in It’s a Wonderful Life isn’t fictitious. Christmas is a time of miracles.  But miracles are small things in addition to being big things.   it just depends on where we look.  Sure there are Scrooges and G...

 Of course, I’m still thinking about Christmas, but I am thinking about the New Year as well.  In fact, the whole period after Thanksgiving is the holiday period.  But as the old year comes to a close, it’s now just not Christmas but a New Year.  The week after Christmas we begin thinking of another year.  What will 2025 bring?   I have written about a New Beginning and need not say any more about it.  And the old year is not yet over.  In some ways I am thinking that maybe I’ll spend more time at the beach and I’ll be thinking about many things.    My Spirit Guides still speak to me and I listen better than I talk or write.  Sometimes I talk too much, but most of the time I’m quiet.  During the Christmas season I listen to the music.  I love Christmas music especially.  I wrote about this not long ago and there is no need to go over it again.  But I love the carols more than I do the songs of Christmas.   A...

 One of the prophets of old asked God how long it would be before the Savior came.  I have been asking that same question.  It was a long wait for the first time.  But I am convinced all prophecy has been fulfilled and it is just a matter of time.  I wouldn’t dare stretch my neck out if I felt I was wrong.  This is now the start of a New Beginning.  If I thought otherwise I would say so.  Christmas is a time to be thinking about a new beginning.  Jesus says to look for signs.  The signs are everywhere.  Some might think I am just a crazy old man, but I am not the only one to say this about a New Beginning.  This is not to frighten anyone, but on the contrary there are those who spend their lives studying prophecies.  And not just biblical prophecy.  But the prophecies of many.  In the Last Days God will pour out His Spirit.   Okay, I claim to be Spiritual.  And my Spirit tells me to begin making the pro...

 My wife and I went to our local post office yesterday and were waited on by a young woman who looked to be forty something who said she didn’t feel like decorating for Christmas this year.  She lost her mom, her best friend, and a man she had known for some time in the last year.  She said she’ll be glad when the holidays are over and she hopes next year will be better.   Christmas is like that for some people as three of those closest to her passed away this past year.  It’s hard to lose a mom, but also two very close people.  Neither of us were sure what to say to this young woman, but she was too young to be dealing with losses like these.  We wished her the best and hoped 2025 will be kinder to her.  But there are those in life who for whatever reason will skip Christmas this year.  My heart went out to her. But my heart goes out to those who lost loved ones this past year.  We’re fortunate to be spending our fiftieth Christmas toge...

 One might think I’m waiting for Santa to arrive on Christmas Eve, but I can’t wait until he gets here to relax on the beach with or without a red Speedo.  He’ll be here until Spring or when he feels he needs to get back to the North Pole.  But I can’t wait for Santa to relax.  Right now things are tense for him or as tense as Santa can get.  Some say he’s Santa and Santa never gets tense.  But I assure you that he has to make sure all goes well in one night. Some might say I spend too much time and effort on Santa and maybe I do almost to the neglect of Angels and the true meaning of Christmas.  No, I haven’t forgotten about the meaning of the season.  If I have, then all I’d care about are my own gifts on Christmas morning.  I haven’t forgotten about what the season means and not even Santa would want me to forget.   No.  I care about his mental well-being because like every Christmas, I want him around with his pipe and Mrs. Clau...

 I went to a cigar bar the other day and had my yearly Hemingway Signature cigar.  I mention this because I enjoyed being there while my wife did some Christmas shopping.  It seemed like only about five minutes, but according to my brother-in-law, who was with me, it was about 25 minutes.  Time went by too fast.   But it takes me about a half hour to smoke such a cigar and that was about right.  But the time went by too quickly.  A young man came in as I purchased my cigar and said he wanted to see their pipes for sale.  My eyes mush have lit up like a Christmas tree as I asked him about his pipe smoking.  He said he had been smoking pipes for about a year and I asked him whether he smoked English or Aromatics.  As I smoke both I was curious whether he was into one or the other or both. I’m into both.  I smoke Aromatics mostly for my wife, but once in a while I love a good English.  I told him I had been a pipe smoker for fifty...

 I love the season.  I love the movies.  I love the music.  Gifts aren’t just for Christmas morning but are exchanged throughout the season.  But it is a special time when families get together.  It is a season of love.  But it’s more than a mood.  It is towards the end of the year with time to reflect over the past year.  I’m not sure what I like best about the season.  I like the mood Christmas brings.   I like the love at Christmas.  I’m not talking about romantic love but differences are often resolved at Christmas.  At least I like to think so.  Life is too short for bitter resentments.  Life is even too short where there is no love.  Christmas is a time of hope, especially as a new year approaches.   Maybe I am an idealist thinking all problems are resolved at Christmas, but the season brings with it hope for a better new year.  It’s the season for a reason.  Christmas is about Peace, Lo...

 Not everyone believes in God, heaven, or Angels.  Not everyone thinks the world is a globe.  Not everyone thinks we landed on the moon.  Not everyone believes the same things.  The word of the year is polarization.  Some think Trump is a messiah and some think he’s a great deceiver.  Which is it?  It just depends.  Some think Biden caused the polarization.   I refuse to be drawn into all the debates instead focusing on the Big Picture.  What is the Bigger picture?  It’s the world being set up for a New Beginning.  Polarization is a sign of the times.  It’s not about love but more about hate.  Polarization is hate.  And we either learn to love or we will destroy ourselves.  Hatred is the reason for murder as evidenced by the killing of the UnitedHealthCare CEO.   Hate destroys while love builds.  Love creates while hatred is death.  In the Last Days people will die from fear.  We lea...

Sometimes we take life for granted but at our age we just don’t take life for granted.  It really is a good morning when we both wake up and we know everything is okay.  So, this morning really is a good morning!  After my two brushes with death, I know my wife doesn’t take me for granted.  Nor do I take her for granted either.  She makes sure I’m fed and I make sure she’s okay and do things for her she is not able to do.   In this regard we consider ourselves a team.  But I’ve learned not to take anything for granted.  I feel that way about all my relationships in life.  It seems I take nothing or anyone for granted.  We just never know.  But the old adage about no news being good news is much better than hearing only bad news.   One of the things I never take for granted are my Spirit Guides.  I never take them for granted.  They have given me life and always made sure I am alive.  My task as I have said is to ...

 I love the music of Christmas the best.  It’s strange hearing Christmas music any other time of year, but a lot of music is more secular on the radio except for Christmas Eve.  At least when we used to listen to radio this was always the case.  There are some Christmas songs I can do without, but my wife and I agree that David Bowie singing the Little Drummer Boy with Bing Crosby is perhaps the strangest of all duets.   But for me at least, Christmas is about the music with my favorite hymn being Silent Night.  I’m not sure I have a favorite secular song, but while I have my favorite Christmas hymns, Silent Night takes the honors.  That hymn is followed by The First Noel and then all other hymns in no particular order.  Perhaps my favorite rendition of any song is The Christmas Canon sung by the children’s choir by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.   I could begin a list of secular songs, but perhaps the Peace Carol by John Denver and the Muppet...

 Okay, a lot of old men are grumpy.  I am no exception, but perhaps I’m grumpy to my wife.  She knows me better than I do.  She knows what I’m thinking before I do.  But that is to be expected after 50 Christmases together.  She’ll ask me to do something and often I think eventually I’ll get around to it.  But some things are more immediate than others.  I get grumpy about the immediate things.   But I told her it’s the holidays and I’ll try not to be grumpy.  I still don’t always succeed, but at least I’m thinking I need to be less grumpy.  But such as it is, at least being less grumpy is in my thoughts.  Grumpy old men run out of patience.  Time is shorter for us and at least most of us know this.  Time is of the essence.  If I sat around thinking I could croak any second, I just might be a lot grumpier than I am.  But the fact is that when I’m relaxed smoking my pipe and in a mood of meditation, I don’t l...

 Santa doesn’t have anything to do with the Christmas narrative and Angels, but I’ll never giving up on Santa.  I told my wife as we were out shopping that we need a Santa sitting in a lounge chair as if he’s reclining on a beach.  I told her he needs a red Speedo.  She hastily replied she’d never own a Santa in a red Speedo!  That seems to be an ongoing gag about Santa.   But in shopping for our Christmas decorative items, we bought Angels and a nutcracker that all require batteries and light up.  No Santa this year.  But she says by far her best Christmas gift is a hand painted Santa I bought her a number of Christmases ago.  He’s the first Christmas item we unpack every Christmas.  But we have a lot of Angels and this year we added the nutcracker to our nutcracker collection.   It might seem odd that our Christmas decorations include both the secular and religious, but I’m willing to keep Santa alive, who is myth, with angels and...

 Angels are very much a part of the story of Christmas.  Obviously I get very emotional about Angels.  But where there are no physical beings, I’m always connected Spiritually and call them my Spirit Guides.  I wish I could relate how they work but I can’t.  It’s not about hearing voices, but they speak through my thoughts.  I can’t explain that either.  In fact there is much about me that has no explanation.   But I’m not sure I care.  I can’t explain the unexplainable and won’t even try.  Many think Angels are a myth and don’t exist.  I am the only proof I have.  But for me, stories about Angels are very emotional.  I can’t help but be emotional about Angels.  They are a big part of the Christmas narrative.  But my thinking is that I have to live with my own reality that includes Angels. If somehow I could prove Angels exist I would.  I am proof they do, otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.  That is the onl...

Okay, when it comes to Christmas I’m an old softie.  I get nostalgic about the season and I too have visions of sugar plums.  But when the season is over I feel like Santa relaxing on a secluded beach smoking his pipe.  I’m happy when the tree is put away and life gets back to normal.  My wife writes a Christmas letter every year and sends it out with greeting cards.  But come January 2, I’m relieved it’s all over.  We might still be eating left overs from the holiday, but I have a sense of relief when it’s over. I no longer have to sit through sappy Christmas commercials and the car ads are no more.  My wife and I often wondered who buys a car for Christmas?  But really the end of the year is a great time to buy a car if one needs one.  But some Christmas ads are too much.  I can do without them.  TCL just came out with a 98 inch TV just in time for Christmas.  I’m sure some families will buy it for Christmas.  I wouldn’t...

 I am celebrating my 73rd Christmas this year bot remembering too many of them except maybe by photographs. Supposedly, I am living on borrowed time.  I am alive about seven years past my time, but perhaps more importantly I could have died December 11, 2011.  I have close to fifteen years added to my life.  Why am I still alive?   I have several answers to this question, but perhaps most importantly I have no fear of death.  Fear could cut my life short.  I’d have anxiety attacks about dying.  I’ve had fears of the unknown in life.  But only because I’ve had a disconnect from my Spirit Guides.  My brain has a chemical deficiency aided by medication.  I’ve often wondered as I get older if I am of sound mind.   Socialization puts a lot of stress on me, especially with the unfamiliar.  Age and wisdom has taught me how to deal with the unfamiliar.  I’m smart enough to know how my mind works and has taken me years to lear...

 Okay, it might not be the worst that could happen, but when it comes to Christmas I am very much a traditionalist.  I like Santa where he is.  I’m not about to change a thing about Santa including his pipe.  Santa has had a pipe for centuries and I’m not about to take his pipe from him.  But there was something I saw in a video recently that made me cringe.  It was a video of a steampunk Santa, workshop, elves, Mrs. Claus, and the sleigh all in a Steampunk motif.   I can do without these images.  I don’t need a Steampunk Santa and all that goes with him.  I have to admit the AI artwork in the video was very well done, the elves were all women dressed in Steampunk attire.  Mrs. Claus looked to be a much younger and perfectly proportioned in her own Steampunk attire, being attended to be Steampunk version of various female elves.   Santa appeared in his Steampunk attire and hardly looked like himself being also attended to by his own...

 Christmas season can be as much about football as it is about the tree, Santa, and decorations.  My wife pointed out to me that yesterday I misspelled Holy for the Holy Family and instead wrote Hikey.  For some reason my spell- checker didn’t catch that but changing it changes the link and I would have had to start over and resend all my links.  So, I kept it as it was hoping most everyone understood what I meant.   I proofread it twice and didn’t catch it.  But such are the dangers of being a one man show.  If it were a video, I could cut out mistakes and pick up where I left off.  But print is different.  I make a mistake and I have to live with it after publishing.  If I were to publish my essays in book form, I’d have to go over every mistake and make sure it’s error free.  But I am a one man show and have to live with mistakes.  It just shows I’m human and will make mistakes from time to time.  And when I make errors...

 I always like the image of Santa lounging on a secluded beach smoking his pipe while wearing a red Speedo.  It is my favorite image of Santa.  He arrives at the beach a few days after Christmas and stays until around Easter.  In the Spring he heads back to the North Pole and readies himself for the next Christmas.  Some have said Santa has been spotted on various secluded beaches until August or September.   How long he stays in the tropics is debatable, but no question what he does after Christmas is over.  Why I enjoy this image of Santa I’m not sure, but I think it’s how most feel when the holiday’s are over.  My wife enjoys the Christmas shopping for most everyone, but we always discuss what I want to get for others.   I’ve become more of a Scrooge at Christmas not caring for decorating and putting up lights.  I complain, but do it for family.  Every year I fuss about getting out the decorations and things, but enjoy the Christ...

 Of course there are tobaccos exclusively for Christmas.  I could begin to list them all, but in making out my most recent tobacco order, I had a list of tobaccos for Christmas.  There was Christmas Spirit, Frosty Mint, Jolly Ol’ St. Nicholas and a host of others.  So, I had to settle for two two ounce tins of Golden Days of Yore, which I just a had a tin recently and didn’t find it all that Christmas-y.  And instead of mint, I found a Cinnamon based tobacco instead along with Buttered Rum.   So, I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, but ordered what I thought might have a kind of Christmas aroma.  There was a Balkan blend I wanted that was also sold out, but found a tobacco called Mild English, which I thought might be similar to Early Morning Pipe by Peterson.  It could be an English my wife might like, but I’m not holding my breath on that since I have yet to find an English blend she likes.  The aroma of any English blend never sm...