Smokin'

An old friend of mine recently returned from a mission trip to Honduras. As is typical for missionaries he stocked up on his favorite tobacco products while there.....I'm just kidding!!! He brought me one cigar. Most people don't know that nations other than Cuba produce very fine cigars. My favorites come from Honduras and Nicaragua. And even though I may sound like a real tobacco connoisseur, I'm not. I had to look up connoisseur in the dictionary just to spell it....not sure I spelled Honduras and Nicaragua right either but back to the subject of tobacco.

I don't condone smoking. I think it's an expensive and dangerous weakness. However, I do occasionally enjoy a good cigar or a few drags on my pipe while sitting on my patio in the evenings. Debbie doesn't really approve but since I don't have any other vices and I'm pretty much perfect in every way, she doesn't complain...much. She thinks my pipe tobacco smells like something I pinched off the compost pile. Silly woman.

I developed my interest in smoking when I was young. I loved to watch people smoke. The little curls of smoke wafting around their heads and faces, the wonderful smell of burning tobacco, and the thought of scorching lungs was a peaceful pastime. Nobody ever said I was an interesting child. My second attempt to smoke cigarettes was during the spring of 1967. My family had gone on a weekend trip and I got to stay home by myself because of my job at Foodway grocery store. On the Friday night of that weekend I was given a package of cigarettes by the tobacco salesman who came by our store. Thoughtful guy that he was, he included a book of Winston matches with his gift. I took those cigarettes home and hid them until after work on Saturday...don't know why I felt compelled to hide them. Nobody was home. Saturday afternoon finally came and I took my cigarettes and matches out to the backyard. I did some serious smoking....one after another after another until I threw up. The butts, the matches, and the remaining cigarettes were then buried in the yard. I have never wanted to smoke another cigarette....the same can't be said for cigars and my pipe.

If you were paying attention a minute ago you noticed this was my second attempt at smoking. The first ended so abruptly I didn't get a chance to form an opinion of the practice. I'm getting sleepy though so I'll tell you about it another time.

Good night.