tonguebite, you get clear signals from your pipe. First, most of us relight at least once or more as we smoke a bowl,
and that involves tamping the tobacco down with a tamper, pipe tool, pipe nail or (my dad's favorite) a finger. You
can feel if there is some tobacco left each time you tamp it. When you get down to a third of a bowl, unless it's a
giant pipe, that's usually about the end of the tobacco. Sometimes that little fraction of a bowl won't relight, or
won't stay lit. Don't be cheap; give it up! Also, toward the end of a bowl, you'll often get a little bite even with
a smooth blend, so that's a good signal too. Nonetheless, I'm often surprised to discover how little burnable tobacco
is left. Often, there is almost no dottle (unburned tobacco, not ash). A lot of this pipe smoking is just practice.
Once you have the fundamentals, the pipe will teach you. Wanted to mention, I've been to Ireland twice, once for
a drive-around plus Dublin, and a second time, just Dublin itself. What a great country. I savored all the surprises.
Never expected palm trees that far north, from the gulfstream I guess. And four or five or more distinct weather
changes a day, from fog, to sunny, to drizzle, to gale. Your window seldom presents the same scene twice.
The pubs, the shrines, the sheep, the gorsh, and the Cliffs of Mor. Pardon my spelling. It's just a sweet scene
that speaks to the soul. I have my Peterson pipes to remind me, including the Around the World commemorative
for Ireland, which is a red tone bulldog. Love that Guinness. I always give 'em time to draw it slow.
