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Jbrewer2002

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 17, 2023
672
4,972
Somerset Ohio
Greetings!

I was on the PMRS forums a few years ago and had a great time with you all. Since then, my drinking got out of control and I had to get help. I wasn't posting here, wasn't taking care of myself, playing my guitar, wasn't even ENJOYING my pipes. When I got out, my sponsor advised me to steer clear of any of the things I did while I was drinking... one of those things was pouring myself a brandy, port or pilsner or 14 and- smoking my pipes. It got to where I wasn't even tasting anything- just numbing and distracting myself. But I associated the pipe with the drink in early sobriety.

Anywho! I made a friend in AA a few months ago who I recently saw smoking a cob before a meeting. I approached him and said "hey, didn't know you were a pipe smoker- smells like a tasty aro, what're to smokin?" and he pulled a pouch of Captain Black white label from his pocket and said he doesn't really smoke it that much, but lately he's been enjoying it. It's been misty, overcast, chilly, foggy, perfect piping whether here so I'm not surprised he's taken to it recently. The conversation got rolling, we went to the meeting, and afterwards, I invited him to my porch to check out my tobacco collection, now two years older and untouched after my break! He obliged, we had a couple bowls, and we plan to do it again soon.

I'm beginning to associate the pipe with relaxation again.

Since I've been gone, I've been sober for one year and five months by the grace of something more powerful than myself, I've moved to the place I've always wanted to live, I've gotten to work on taking care of my mental and physical health (even got my medically bad breath taken care of), and proved myself trustworthy enough to get my dog back from my ex-girlfriend who gave me the gift of sobriety by leaving me and breaking the cycle of enabling, drinking, fighting, and hurting.

It is good to be back.

Now, I've been piping off and on for probably ten-twelve years, smoked some pretty shameful stuff out of some stumpy, burnt handmedown cobs previously owned by my Grandfather, who smokes whatever is cheapest at the gas station and has since he was 10 or 11. Saw an ad for the new at the time Savinelli Miele line in 2018 and fell in love. Ordered a 316 KS that day. I became obsessed, ordered a couple pounds of all kinds of bulk blends. The styles I'm into with my favorite examples of those styles are navy blends (Newminster 400 Flake), va-pers(GLP Fillmore), lightly flavored aros (Johnny Marr), English (Plum Pudding Bourbon Aged, Fusiliers Ration), oriental focused blends (H&H Black House)... and my favorite, Bayou Night.

The tobacco I most want to try

Beyond that, I dig Everton Football Club, the Simpsons, jazz fusion, playing building and repairing guitars, foraging, cultivating mushrooms, and playing with my dog.

L'chaim! - Dylan B, Northern VT
Welcome back. I’m on month 6 of my “one day at a time” journey. I’ll say I have definitely enjoyed my pipes more than ever. Tasting things I never did in the past.