Hello to All!

[puffingmypipes]

Greetings from Chicago
I've been smoking pipes on and off since acquiring my grandfathers' humble collection back in high school (along with his flamboyantly colored suits from the 70s). In college I'd typically make it a summertime activity, puffing along while driving in Ann Arbor with the windows down.
As of recent I've picked it back up and very quickly acquired a collection of my own, exploring multiple shape styles and tobaccos to pair. I'm joining the community to continue learning, share a few opinions and search for a few pipes that I'm looking to acquire. I won't lie, I'm itching for the Chicago Pipe Show in May 2019!
Glad to be here

 

[haparnold]

Welcome aboard! Given your reference to Ann Arbor, I assume you went to Michigan?

 

[bouwser]

Welcome! Not sure if you are from Michigan but if you are, I welcome you from the west side of the state.

 

[puffingmypipes]

@haparnod - Thank you! Yes, Wolverine class of '09

@bouwser - Thank you! I'm from Chicago and currently live here, but spent 5 great years living in Ann Arbor and Michigan is still my go-to vacation state ;-)

 

[timt]

Welcome from Minnesota.

 

[mso489]

Welcome puffing'. I grew up in Chicagoland, a near northwest suburb that I associated with CPA's and corporate jobs, but found out long after I moved away, that it had a long history as an arts community and still boasts composers, writers, painters, etc. etc. Weird experience, the community I never knew. My great grandfather was the first mayor of a North Shore community further up the commuter line. I'm in N.C. most of my settled adult life, after Navy and other stops. I have an accent that my homefolks hear as Southern (from habit I guess) but no Southerner has ever mistaken me for native born. Also my speech is skewed by times in Missouri, California, etc. I'm a real linguistic mongrel.

 

[puffingmypipes]

@timt - Thank you!

@mso489 - Thanks for the welcome! I read on another post that you're from PR - same as me! Grew up here and now raising a family in the same place.

 

[jaytex1969]

Welcome, puffingmypipes.
How did you get that pipe in your avatar to stick to the end of your nose? I know it gets cold up there, but DAYUM!
:laughat:

 

[james72]

Welcome to the forum, bud!

 

[bnichols23]

Howdy, puff', & welcome from the Piedmont of SC. Glad to have you here! Hope you still have some pieces of those old suits, too. Mix/match & you'll have fine garb as s member of the Black Frigate crew!

 

[mso489]

puffing', PR it is! They had a small but excellent pipe shop there by the railroad tracks for maybe thirty years. In later days, after I left, it became a hang-out for disaffected youth. They sold artisan pipes and up-market blends, and it always smelled wonderful. My dad was an ardent pipe smoker, but it was one pipe at a time with him, and his only blend was Granger, so I think he visited the shop about once. He was a pipe snob in reverse ... Granger forever.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Welcome from a former Illini. You're lucky to have Iwan Ries within driving distance!