ON THE ISLAND OF NEUROSIS

At present I am amused by the imagined frustration of two people at constructing a series of interlocking cubes at my work place. Soon to be augmented by a third, when his shift starts. Who will, undoubtedly, after half an hour say "heck it, let's just toss this crap and have a shot of tequila". I put it together yesterday, and deconstructed it entirely before I left at night. The marginally demented anti-vaxer who works tomorrow may take an axe to it. Another brilliant idea by a marketing department, leapt upon alacritously by the boss, which has proven both goobus and capable of inducing psychological trauma. I work in an unique environment.

Much about what I do in a work context is likely to cause weeping, wailing, and, if the wind is right, gnashing of teeth. Not by me, as I am an equitably-tempered bloke. But others.


Under certain conditions at work I may grumble, but sometimes there is cheese.


I keep fantasizing that one day a skunk or a badger may wander in.
Friendly, extremely self-assured, and quite curious.
I shall give it a tuna fish sandwich.

Animals like that often react 'decisively' if other creatures nearby make sudden or threatening moves. As a Dutch American, and a pipe smoker, I understand that. I also react decisively at those times. And I have trained myself to be calm, as I do not wish to bite through the stem of my pipe. Those things are a pain in the gand to replace. Obviously I do not wish to inflict that pain in the gand on furry entities. Some of whom are adept at sharing their gand irritation.

To put it differently, I see myself as good at sitting still, not disquieting animals, and gently feeding them tuna fish sandwiches. Besides constructing cubes.

Because it was my birthday last week, and to reward myself for being a good little patient (saw medical professionals recently, like every year at roughly this time) I bought myself another pipe. A black sandblasted Peterson straight-shanked billiard, silver-banded.
A handsome piece. Very skunk or badger like. Which a crow might also like.

Breaking-in a new pipe is a neurotic project. Smoke it gently, partial bowls at first, gradually increasing the tobacco, until finally somewhere at around twenty smokes or so one can do full loads. By that time the carbon layer on the inside of the bowl will have developed enough that it's the perfect interface with the tobacco and acts as a protective layer between the fire and the wood. Which should probably be sometime in December for this pipe.

This item looks very similar to an older Dunhill shellbriar banded billiard which I mentally associate with club sandwiches and Hong Kong milk tea for lunch. Perfect for the rainy season and the return of colder weather.



By the way, and speaking of neurotic, I should mention Greg Pease's Ellipsis Flake. Mostly lighter leaf (Virginia flue-cured and a little burley) augmented with Smyrna (Izmir) and a touch of St. James Perique. Rather delightful. Off-kilter label art, which seems to be three dancing nudes erupting from tobacco leaves on a sunny day. A seascape. I shall have to purchase more of this. This might be something to stockpile.

TOBACCO INDEX


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