Unanticipated blizzard.

Where the hell did this come from?

Yesterday evening, Sparky and I sat out in the cool damp for a while.  It was so pleasant, I thought about getting out my pipe.

No, not a hookah pipe, hash pipe or whatever you degenerates are thinking of.  My buddy Joe had us smoking cigars, and those cost $12 each and burned for over an hour.  Some pipes cost less than a cigar, and you can stop and start as you like. 

Pipes come in a variety of styles, so like buying a motorcycle, the buyer looks at what image is to be presented.

I don’t play enough D&D for a churchwarden pipe.  I’ve never been to Corregidor, or anywhere in the Philippines, so a corncob pipe was out.  And I’m not a captain of a whaling ship.  I’ve never even eaten whale blubber, and I’ve visited Norway and Japan.  Two places where whale may be on the menu.

A full bent pear wood pipe is just the ticket for professorial gravitas.  I pictured it something like this.

“What you must understand is that Heisenberg was in an untenable position, but he may have had the right of it.”

I’m not fond of the shirt that Grok dreamed up, but I’d look right smart in a leather vest with buckles.

Sparky likes my pipe and enjoyed the cool, damp weather yesterday.  He started reminiscing.

“Aye, we spent many a bonny night camping on the moor, as the Major had a reek o’ his pipe and told stories about the great hunts.  In the mornings, we bask’d on the brae.”

You get the picture.

I told Sparky to stop making fun of Scottish people or he’d be eating boiled potatoes for breakfast and dinner.  He was not persuaded.

“Laddy, ay ken ye got ne tatties, and won’t be bothered to get some.”

I don’t even know what he’s saying, but ‘tatties’ made me think I should see if the new Sydney Sweeney movie, The Housemaid, is available yet.

So we went inside.  The weather was so mild, I gave no thought to tending the wood stove or bringing in wood.  This morning, we have 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground, a cold firebox and no wood stacked inside.

It takes more time and attention to start a fire with no coals banked.  Even though it comes from the shed, the wood is cold and damp on the outside.   It’s fine.