9 inches and melting

It was very unusual snow yesterday. All told we got about 9 inches at the homestead. Very dry fluffy snow. So dry that when the plow came thru the street was clean.. No ice. Very unusual. I will be going out later to do my part and shovel the sidewalks.. right into the beds.

Twas a relaxing day yesterday. I watched some youtube videos on pipe smoking and gardening. I cant believe that young people are calling pipe smoking a hobby.. To old Trash its a way of life. I got my first corn cob at 15, my first briar at 18 or so and my first Calabash when I was like 22 or 23. That old girl made it thru 6 or 7 kids and finally got broke beyond repair sometime after I turned 45. I have used my pipes to smoke luxury blend tobaccos, cheap ass crap, Prince Albert, and yes I even put a screen in one for smoking MJ. smoking MJ in a corncob is a lifes luxury item.

Why did I start smoking pipes? To me it was like carrying on family tradition. My dad smoked cigarettes. About 2 packs a day. My mom smoked to , and so did gramma. SO I guess it was a given that around age 11  I would also. At the time there were none of these bullshit laws in place. I went to the liquor store and bought a pack of camel non-filters, what dad smoked. You would tell the clerk you were buying them for your parents.. You could do this a cuppla times a week. Or you could risk grabbing a pack of dads out of the carton in the fridge. I always preferred option 1. And at 35 to 60 cents a pack it was cheap.

When I got into middle school  I found my first corncob in a basket on the counter of the local liquor store. Twas 75 cents for a Missouri Meerschaum and occasionally you could get it free with some Prince Albert or Captain Black tobaccos. I treasured that thing and I still have a preference for corn cobs. It was a cool smoke and was thoroughly enjoyable as an alternative to cigarettes.

Around age 16-17, a few years after dad died we were now able to smoke freely on campus.. We had an area in the main quad reserved for smoking. And it ws put to good use. ON a school trip up in Yosemite one of my friends brought his briar pipe and a bag full of good pipe tobacco. After smoking it a cuppla times during that trip I was hooked. When we returned I went to the Tinder Box and bought myself one. About 5 bucks.  It was my new pride and joy . I enjoyed it for years. Cigarettes, Cigars, and pipes are as much a way of life for some as ipods, cell phones and laptops are for others.

Smoking is not just a hobby its a way of life for some of us.