This is my 1000th post; it also represents my first year here as a member of this noble and patrician body of pipers. So this is a reflection of my first anniversary with this forum that I thought I’d share.
Shortly before I seriously took up the pipe, I had at last successfully kicked my addiction to cigarettes, but was interested in pipes because I had always rather liked the image of the pipe smoker; Sherlock Holmes comes to mind as well as characters from Middle Earth. But I didn’t really know anything about pipe smoking--I had tried a few times years ago but didn’t realize that the pipe is about an entirely different type of smoking. In those early years I treated the pipe like a kind of glorified cigarette, trying to inhale, so those attempts were unsuccessful. Then I looked up a few videos on the web and discovered this forum and some online pipe vendors. I picked up a couple of pipes at SmokingPipes.com and took them along with me with a supply of Captain Black Gold to visit a friend for a week in Nevada.
There, visiting my friend, Byron Craft, the author of the Lovecraftian horror novel “The Alchemist’s Notebook”, and his lovely wife, Marcia, while gazing out at the desert three hours outside Vegas, watching the Milky Way in the perfectly dark night sky, I started learning how to smoke a pipe while meditating on the stars. Funny thing, though--I would always wake up with a terrible burning tongue and wondered: Do all pipe smokers go through this? Is it a matter of getting used to it? After my week’s stay in the desert with Byron and Marcia, this agonizing burning continued.
On my return home, I formally signed up for PipesMagazine and started asking questions. I learned about the phenomena of “tongue bite,” and as it turned out, in my ignorance, I was smoking a tobacco that bites like a rabid gila monster. Here also I learned more about pipe smoking, that the point of it isn’t to inhale (and I hadn’t been and thought I was doing something wrong) but to let the membranes of the mouth absorb the flavors and nicotine of the pipe tobacco--with the right kind of tobacco. Here again I got some recommendations for OTC tobaccos like Carter Hall, but again because of the knowledge imparted to me here, would end up settling on baccys like Lane and discovering somewhat safer aeros like Sutliff.
The forum, I discovered to my delight, was much more than just a place for Q & A about pipes and tobaccos; it is a fraternity, a brotherhood (not neglecting the ladies here), and as in any good fraternity, this was a place where true gentlemen gathered in friendship and particularly, good will and charity towards those less well off or just needed some modest help. I first became aware of this when I idly asked about recommendations for chocolate flavored tobaccos. A few PMs and less than a week later, there were two packages delivered, a pair of boxes filled with tins and samples of chocolate tobaccos. Another fellow sent me a pair of pipe racks, and I saw other members issuing posts about the generosity of fellow pipers. Without asking, I’ve received bundles of items, mostly tobaccos, without any trade involved, from numerous individuals. Space does not allow me to name them all, but since then I’ve done a bit of donating of pipes and tobaccos and joined the general good will that abounds here.
A couple of individuals stand out: Everyone knows Shaintiques, who selflessly operates the Free Pipe Project, doing his best to insure that members who are short of pipes and tobacco receive pipes that he refurbishes, along with copious amounts of baccys. On more than one occasion I’ve received packages from Dave, because he felt compelled to when I donated a couple of pipes to the Project. I am very proud to call this man my friend.
Another major donator is Simnettpratt, who received a windfall donation, and instead of keeping it, sends out portions of his gift to other needy members of our group. Again, I received a box of tobacco, two pounds of it, just because I donated some cash to help him with postage costs, and in addition to tobacco, he gave me a Swiss pocket knife because I had casually mentioned I needed a knife to use in cleaning my pipes. On top of that, the box included a Country Gentleman’s cob, because in his words, one can never have too many cobs.
Cigrmaster sent me several tins of flakes because I had drawn his daughter, the lovely Gabrielle, as a Halloween witch, for which he gave me permission to draw.
And the generosity goes on.
For the future, I plan on remaining, continuing to learn more about this gentlemanly hobby of ours, pondering the mystique of the pipe. Thanks for reading.
Shortly before I seriously took up the pipe, I had at last successfully kicked my addiction to cigarettes, but was interested in pipes because I had always rather liked the image of the pipe smoker; Sherlock Holmes comes to mind as well as characters from Middle Earth. But I didn’t really know anything about pipe smoking--I had tried a few times years ago but didn’t realize that the pipe is about an entirely different type of smoking. In those early years I treated the pipe like a kind of glorified cigarette, trying to inhale, so those attempts were unsuccessful. Then I looked up a few videos on the web and discovered this forum and some online pipe vendors. I picked up a couple of pipes at SmokingPipes.com and took them along with me with a supply of Captain Black Gold to visit a friend for a week in Nevada.
There, visiting my friend, Byron Craft, the author of the Lovecraftian horror novel “The Alchemist’s Notebook”, and his lovely wife, Marcia, while gazing out at the desert three hours outside Vegas, watching the Milky Way in the perfectly dark night sky, I started learning how to smoke a pipe while meditating on the stars. Funny thing, though--I would always wake up with a terrible burning tongue and wondered: Do all pipe smokers go through this? Is it a matter of getting used to it? After my week’s stay in the desert with Byron and Marcia, this agonizing burning continued.
On my return home, I formally signed up for PipesMagazine and started asking questions. I learned about the phenomena of “tongue bite,” and as it turned out, in my ignorance, I was smoking a tobacco that bites like a rabid gila monster. Here also I learned more about pipe smoking, that the point of it isn’t to inhale (and I hadn’t been and thought I was doing something wrong) but to let the membranes of the mouth absorb the flavors and nicotine of the pipe tobacco--with the right kind of tobacco. Here again I got some recommendations for OTC tobaccos like Carter Hall, but again because of the knowledge imparted to me here, would end up settling on baccys like Lane and discovering somewhat safer aeros like Sutliff.
The forum, I discovered to my delight, was much more than just a place for Q & A about pipes and tobaccos; it is a fraternity, a brotherhood (not neglecting the ladies here), and as in any good fraternity, this was a place where true gentlemen gathered in friendship and particularly, good will and charity towards those less well off or just needed some modest help. I first became aware of this when I idly asked about recommendations for chocolate flavored tobaccos. A few PMs and less than a week later, there were two packages delivered, a pair of boxes filled with tins and samples of chocolate tobaccos. Another fellow sent me a pair of pipe racks, and I saw other members issuing posts about the generosity of fellow pipers. Without asking, I’ve received bundles of items, mostly tobaccos, without any trade involved, from numerous individuals. Space does not allow me to name them all, but since then I’ve done a bit of donating of pipes and tobaccos and joined the general good will that abounds here.
A couple of individuals stand out: Everyone knows Shaintiques, who selflessly operates the Free Pipe Project, doing his best to insure that members who are short of pipes and tobacco receive pipes that he refurbishes, along with copious amounts of baccys. On more than one occasion I’ve received packages from Dave, because he felt compelled to when I donated a couple of pipes to the Project. I am very proud to call this man my friend.
Another major donator is Simnettpratt, who received a windfall donation, and instead of keeping it, sends out portions of his gift to other needy members of our group. Again, I received a box of tobacco, two pounds of it, just because I donated some cash to help him with postage costs, and in addition to tobacco, he gave me a Swiss pocket knife because I had casually mentioned I needed a knife to use in cleaning my pipes. On top of that, the box included a Country Gentleman’s cob, because in his words, one can never have too many cobs.
Cigrmaster sent me several tins of flakes because I had drawn his daughter, the lovely Gabrielle, as a Halloween witch, for which he gave me permission to draw.
And the generosity goes on.
For the future, I plan on remaining, continuing to learn more about this gentlemanly hobby of ours, pondering the mystique of the pipe. Thanks for reading.
