CLEANLINESS IS AFTER GODLINESS

After the first cup of coffee I went for a walk. This neighborhood is beautiful when the morning sunlight hits, and before the street people have woken up and started vocalizing. A few people walking their dogs, one or two work men engaged in earthquake retrofit tasks, the owner of a local restaurant and her husband getting ready to start the day, although it will be a few hours before the kitchen staff get there.

Three years ago the old church on the corner was torn down, and a visually striking condo complex was put there instead. And while I love abandoned churches, I've come to like the new building. It is elegant, and adds a cleanness. Lord knows this neighborhood needs cleanness.

Certainly with this shelter in place in place, the neighborhood is a lot cleaner.

And very much quieter too.


It took ten blocks to smoke my pipe. The pipe in question is one I restored nearly two years ago, one of the irredeemables, and I'm very pleased with the results. After a thorough reaming of the ancient crust within, I scraped and recarved the rim, and put a bevel along the inside edge. The stem needed replacing, of course. But it's an excellent smoker. Strangely, it tends to subdue the aromatic top-dressing of some Danish mixtures (not the overly sweet gloopy ones), but sings with Perique blends.

It is a perfect early morning pipe. For about half a year I would fill it only half-full at most, re-breaking it in again, and the first two or three smokes were sooty at best. But at two smokes a week, within two months it was behaving in a very civilized manner, and has become a trusted friend.

It's not a shape I would have ever bought new. It is too fruity, elegant, and Scandinavian. Mostly I go for classic English and French shapes, and sometimes Italians. Savinelli does some extremely nice interpretations of the standards. Yet I do have about a dozen Danes; after a life time of enjoying pipes and tobacco, that's bound to happen.


On my second cup of coffee and my second pipe right now. Sofar I haven't yet heard any of my neighbors in this building, but it is unlikely they are still sleeping. With everybody staying at home, most people who aren't habitual drinkers probably go to bed early and get up earlier too. I got out of bed at five-thirty, my apartment mate started fixing herself breakfast at around six. She left shortly after seven-thirty, shortly before I went for a walk.

Seeing as she'll be gone till early evening, I've closed her door so that the smoke won't enter. And I'll cook something spicy for lunch; that way she won't know that I've been smoking inside the apartment.

I've put the stuffed duck ('Blue Beard') on her keyboard to distract her in any case. I'm counting on him to not rat me out. He's a good egg.

Hot dang this tobacco is nice.

TOBACCO INDEX


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