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Is it too hot outside to smoke your pipe?
Maybe its me but, when it gets so hot and humid some days as it can here in sunny North Carolina, i just can't get in the mood to smoke my pipe. Seems all conditions have to be right for me to really be able to enjoy a good pipe and when its way to hot, im just not interested. Anyone else feel like this?
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@Londy3 About forty years ago I found myself between jobs when I was laid off from the Steel Mill, and I ended up working for my Uncle in construction. He owned a company that put sewer and drainage systems in new subdivisions. So it was hard work and in direct sunlight. It was quite a strange transition from working indoors in a steel mill to outside in the open air. And in the mill we were required to wear a lot of safety gear from hat hats and goggles to green fire retardant suits. But working with my Uncle in construction the guys had their shirts off, no safety gear to speak of, and they even drank beer during their lunch break. Something that would have gotten me fired at US Steel.
Since I'm Italian I can get pretty dark when I tan and never really had a sunburn. So I followed the lead of the other workmen, took off my shirt and went about the job. Working under direct sunlight for 8 steady hours. Needless to say - these guys had been baking their skin for months ... and I was a newbie not used to being shirtless for that long a time. And the end result was a combination of first, second, and third degree burns on my back. I still have the scars to prove it. Well after that horrible ordeal I never sat outdoor with my shirt off again - and once I was back at work at the Steel Mill my time outdoors was very limited. Even my days off I didn't spend much time outdoors. And when I did outdoor activities I assure you sunbathing wasn't one of them. So for years it was probably hard to tell I was Italian because my olive completion had become about as pale as a vampire. And once my beard started going gray I was beginning to look washed out and sickly. When my relatives would see me they thought I was in the process of dying.
So I've made it a habit of taking my pipe outside each afternoon no matter what the temperature, set myself in a chair facing direct sunlight, and started absorbing the rays of the sun, getting a little natural vitamin D, and putting some much needed color back into my face. So I presently have what's commonly referred to as a farmer's tan ... both arms, face and neck darkly tanned ... and nothing more. So sitting outside in the direct sun smoking my pipe, even when it's in the mid-90s', isn't a problem for me. I'd actually rather smoke then because the mosquitoes are not out. Of course I'm no fool and prefer weather in the 70s' ... but I can't always get my way. Now as for the type of weather you're describing in North Carolina - hot & humid would be an altogether different animal ... and I'd have a problem sitting out there when it's hard to breath because of the humidity and oppressive heat. Hopefully when the sun goes down and a nice breeze blows your way you can get a break and enjoy an evening smoke.
@ghostsofpompeii, Hey there pisan, i too am Italiano. I tend to burn at first as well then darken fairly well compared to my family up north. At any rate, i am not one to just sit in the sun and not do anything, like going to the beach, i cant just sit on the sand and bake. When I smoke my pipe, the goal is to be comfortable, relax, unwind.
are on the back burner.But I have a covered screened in porch so that
in a storm I can sit "out" and enjoy the light show.
Motie, it has been SO humid here in South Jersey this summer.....and we have had many days over 90 degrees so far with a lot of rain. We are right on the bay here between AC and the mainland. A lot of mornings the fog and dew are so heavy it feels as if you can't breathe. On really hot and humid days, with a low tide, the natural "methane" odor is quite prevalent, I can't wait until fall. But, I am not complaining, I always returned to my roots here
Gotta check the sump.
With todays temps being 100 and a heat index around 110, I had absolutely no desire to smoke outdoors.
So I'm sittin up in the mancave, exhaust fan on, Thermostat set on 74, and thoroughly enjoyin my briars.
'