A New Year, A New Blog, and Healing

On the afternoon of December 31, 2011 I started work on this blog, eager to jump in and discuss political philosophy, pipes, tobacco, and anything else that came to mind. I was working on lining up other authors, and making something that I thought would be interesting to write, and something interesting for others to read. I journeyed on toward my family’s New Year’s Eve party, eager to tell my father about the ideas I had for this blog, and to discuss my vision for how it might have fit in with my life and growing business. At 9:00PM that very night, before I had even had the chance to say hello that evening, my father passed away in my arms. The cancer he had been fighting for over a year tore loose from his chest, and the greatest man I have ever had the pleasure to know, left this world behind at 47 years of age.

Not surprisingly, Of Pipes and Patriots was shelved as I made my way through the process of burying my father, and grieving his loss. Yesterday, on March 7th, my daughter turned four. As I sat there with her, thinking over the first four years of her life, my mind wandered to the relationship I had with my father. My father was an amazingly warm, patient, and caring man. During his funeral, even the pastor commented that he had never known someone with so many “best friends”. At least 6 people came up to him with such sentiments, and had I been of mind to note, it would have been 7.

At some point during my reminiscence, my thoughts turned to the pipe that I gave my father for his birthday, and the intentions we had of smoking together out on his patio this spring. I thought about my great grandfather, who was the only pipe smoker I ever knew before I took up the hobby, and I thought about the power of seemingly mundane connections to be found in such habits and behaviors. I am of the mind, that it’s the little things that often color and define the parameters of life and living, and that the small things are often the most cathartic. I would like to be of the mind that such things may also be copacetic. I guess time will tell.

 

Donald E. Wyatt 1964-2011 A great man by any measure conceivable to man.

Talking Tobacco.com’s Jack’s Blind Review Contest

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with TalkingTobacco.com, PipesAndCigars.com, or any subsidiaries or affiliates thereof. Likewise, I receive no compensation from the views and opinions in this blog.

Legal disclaimer, out the way, let’s get to it!
Anyone who knows me, and has read this blog, knows that I am a fan of PipesandCigars.com. Their service is top shelf, their prices are great, and the staff there has taken time out of their day to personally contact me both about orders I’ve made and blends I’d like to see made. I’m a simple guy, and I appreciate vendors that can communicate concisely and clearly about the status of any business I have with them.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of the content in the P&C blog “Talking Tobacco.” I personally believe that if you’re going to immerse yourself in a hobby or vocation, you have to read and reach out to others with similar interests. Even casual pipe smokers should benefit from the wealth of information available in online blogs, as they seek to sort through the mind boggling selection of tobacco and pipes currently available to them.

A few weeks ago, “Talking Tobacco” started a blind review contest, where one of their writers smokes and reviews a tobacco without knowing what it is. The guinea pig for this contest is a man by the name of Jack, who comes with a fascinating bio. When “cognitive neuroscience” is listed as a field of study “Just to say…I did it”, you’ve caught my attention, and his reviews don’t disappoint. His writing is concise, easy to understand, and not labored by the tendency to get insanely specific like most cigar reviewers you see splattered across the web.

His demeanor and tone is easily to relate to, and that’s a great thing for readers… because the other part of this is, that if you’re the first reader to guess correctly, you win a tin of whatever he’s smoking that week and whatever rolls over from previous weeks if there is no winner! It just so happens to be that I was the first to guess this past week’s review as being of Cornell & Diehl’s “After Hours”.

Knowing P&C, after receiving my information today, I’ll likely have a nice little package in my mailbox by Monday, or perhaps even Saturday. Whatever magical dust they’ve sprinkled around their shipping department, I want some!

If you spend a lot of time online as I do, pondering why there’s absolutely nothing of interest with the entire world at your fingertips, check out this contest. It’s simple, it’s fun, and who can really turn down a chance at winning tobacco?