This past weekend, I went out to Red Rocks Park to watch the sun rise on Solstice morning with my wife and some friends, as has been our habit for the last 15 years or so. The circle of friends and/or family members has shifted over time, and we've been snowed out a few times, but it's become a pretty solid tradition for us.
The last 3 Solstices have seen the introduction of pre-dawn pipe smoking on my part, and it was a little startling to me to realize that I really have been doing this for 2 full years - Solstice of 2012 was the first time I smoked my pipe "for real", as opposed to the half-bowl testing that I'd been doing while figuring out how to pack, light, tamp, and puff over the previous week or two. In 2012 and 2013, I smoked my Bjarne Viking classic with some Lane 1Q, while this year it was Odin's Wind in a Mark Twain cob (with a Forever Stem).
I actually joined this forum before I bought my first pipe, as I was doing a bunch of research on pipes, smoking, health risks, etc., and y'all have been an integral part of my journey. Thank you all for your help with my n00b questions, and for all of the laughs you've shared with me, and for making PipesMagazine.com one of the places I keep coming back to hang out at online.
The last 3 Solstices have seen the introduction of pre-dawn pipe smoking on my part, and it was a little startling to me to realize that I really have been doing this for 2 full years - Solstice of 2012 was the first time I smoked my pipe "for real", as opposed to the half-bowl testing that I'd been doing while figuring out how to pack, light, tamp, and puff over the previous week or two. In 2012 and 2013, I smoked my Bjarne Viking classic with some Lane 1Q, while this year it was Odin's Wind in a Mark Twain cob (with a Forever Stem).
I actually joined this forum before I bought my first pipe, as I was doing a bunch of research on pipes, smoking, health risks, etc., and y'all have been an integral part of my journey. Thank you all for your help with my n00b questions, and for all of the laughs you've shared with me, and for making PipesMagazine.com one of the places I keep coming back to hang out at online.