The Romance of Pipe Smoking

 Actually, at one time smoking was considered romantic.  And pipe smoking was the cusp of romance.  But those days are long gone.  Once in a great while I’ll see an ad on TV for smokeless tobacco.  But back in the day it seemed to be a natural part of romance for tobacco.  Why?  Smoking itself.  In fact if I’ve been out smoking my pipe my wife will comment on my smelling like tobacco.  No one wants to kiss tobacco laced lips or see tobacco stains on teeth.  It’s ugly and doesn’t smell good.

Ai one time we were accustomed to it, but today we are not.  Tobacco turns off romance.  On a very rare occasion a pipe might remind her of an old relative who smoked a pipe.  But any longer those occurrences are rare.  I think my wife long ago lit my pipe for me.  Back in the day a man lighting a woman’s cigarette was a form of foreplay.  And a woman lighting a man’s pipe was the same.  

Today things are very different.  A pipe used to be sexy but now?  I’m not so sure what it is.  For me, it’s just a pipe.  A pipe can be an instrument for fellowship, particularly with others who are also smoking pipes.  But it is no longer sexy to smoke a pipe.  For most pipe smokers it is a hobby that carries on a tradition hundreds if not thousands of years.  It used to be that many congressmen smoked pipes even in the chambers.  Maybe they need to go back to smoking pipes again.  

But I digress.  Pipe smoking was ritualistic bringing people together.  A pipe was common both for the wealthy and the poor.  It mattered not your status or party affiliation.  If you smoked a pipe you were part of a brotherhood.  I feel part of that when I smoke a pipe because for me that is nostalgia.  But today it is a tool for meditation.  I commune with my Angels while I smoke a pipe.  It means nothing more and nothing less.  

My wife finds nothing romantic about my breath or my clothing if they smell like tobacco.  It’s a turn-off for her.  So, if my breath smells like tobacco she won’t like it.  It matters not to her if I smoke a fragrant Aromatic or the smelliest of English.  She won’t like it.  So, at least I can say a pipe is not romantic.  It has been, but that isn’t why I started smoking a pipe 50 years ago.

I enjoyed the relaxation a pipe offered.  And I still do.  I can always relax with a pipe regardless.  I meditate the best when I am relaxed.  It is NOT romantic.  Sometimes I wish it were as back in the day.  But that is wishful thinking.  Sometimes I miss how things were.  But this morning it is my Peterson Sherlock Holmes pipe with Seven Seas Regular and my morning coffee is Stumptown Homestead coffee. Thank you for your time and Peace to each one of you.

Dave