Shared A Bowl With My Son Today
ghostsofpompeii
Master
I never thought it would happen. Me sitting side-by-side with a fellow pipe smoker - after all these months of posting here that I've never seen another person smoke a pipe other than myself when looking in a mirror. And to be sharing a smoke with my son was an even doubly pleasurable experience than bumping into a complete stranger with a pipe in his mouth.
After months of prodding I finally convinced my son that smoking a pipe would be less harmful than his addiction to cigarettes. I even gave him a tin of Molto Dolce and Out Of Office "Gone Fishing" a month or so - but he had yet to try it. Then today he gave me a call and said he was coming over and asked if I was still willing to give him an old Grabow I promised, and he'd give pipe smoking a try. (He's been looking for a cheap starter pipe but all he could find at the local Walgreen's was a corn cob, and seemed to have an aversion to corn cobs ... but after a discussion I think I've changed his opinion of the lowly corn cob).
Before he got here I made him up a starter kit with all the tools and accessories he'd need, including an array of different blends. And of course I included my Mrs. Hudson's 221B Bakery Blend (which was the blend he decided to start with).
We began with a lesson in packing the pipe, the char light, and all that jazz, then being a cigarette smoker the first thing he did was accidentally inhale and coughed up a lung. After he learned that lesson we moved on to sipping the pipe rather than puffin like a locomotive. He had trouble at first keeping the pipe lit, as did we all when we first started. And told him so. And also said not to be discouraged and relight as many times as needed until he gets a good rhythm. And eventually it will all come naturally. My only advise was to take it slow and be patient. It takes a little more work than smoking a cigarette. I felt like Yoda, training my young apprentice Luke Skywalker.
After a few minutes he seemed to enjoy it. Said it was relaxing. And once I heard that I knew I had done my job.
He loved the flavor and smell. And I explained how much more flavorful a blend can be when retro-haling. After trying a few times he said it kind of freaked him out to discover how much more flavors came through by that simple act of blowing the smoke out his nose. And didn't understand why. Like most cigarette smokers he said he'd been blowing smoke out his nose while smoking a cigarette but never noticed that much of a difference in the flavor. He rattled off all the different flavor combinations of chocolate, vanilla, and caramel he was tasting through retro-haling, and I told him the flavors he was describing were the exact flavor combinations used in the blend.
In the end he seemed to enjoy the experience - and I REALLY enjoyed the experience of sharing a bowl with my son. He seemed adamant about wanting to stop smoking cigarettes and thinks the pipe would be a perfect substitute. So maybe he'll stick with it.
Now I don't know if that makes me a bad parent by turning my son on to pipe smoking, rather than convince him to stop smoking altogether. Instead I simply persuaded him to trade one bad habit for another. But I feel somewhat justified since he'd be smoking cigarettes anyway - and even though a pipe is not a risk free substitute, at least I feel it's less harmful than cigarettes.
Plus, now I might just have a smoking buddy.
Comments
My son Nick has been my pipe pal ever since I started getting back into pipes last October.
His older brother Seth also enjoys a pipe with us when he's in town.
Here's a pic of Nick with me @ our local B&M a couple of months ago...
[url=http://imgur.com/363kHs9][img]http://i.imgur.com/363kHs9.jpg[/img][/url]
The bottom shelf is his pipe collection
[url=http://imgur.com/L0Bdcvf][img]http://i.imgur.com/L0Bdcvf.jpg?1[/img][/url]
You're gonna love smokin a pipe with your son. I know I sure do with mine.
The apple doesn't fall very far from the tree, neh?
And, alternately, the Molto Dolce would be a great first aromatic.
What would y'all say is the best first non-aromatic for a beginner?
@mfresa -- I did that, too. [theme, not "them"] Use the new edit wheel......
What makes a "flavored" tobacco not an aromatic? What makes an aro and aro? Casing? Top dressing?
Is this an explanation? http://www.talkingtobacco.com/2014/07/about-aromatics/
<<Many people say that they don’t smoke cased tobaccos at all. You may think that this is a true statement when in actuality it’s probably not. Almost all Virginias and Burleys have some kind of casing added to make them more palatable. What you may really mean is that you don’t smoke tobaccos that have been top-dressed. This is an area of confusion for many, if not most pipe smokers. Casing has a subtle influence on flavor, and usually very little influence on aroma. Casings are applied early on in processing, and the tobacco is dried back to a normal level using heat. Top-dressings are applied at the end, and use alcohol or some other carrier to infuse the tobacco, which is then allowed to dry naturally. Top-dressings don’t impact flavor very much at all, but they are what you smell when someone is smoking an aromatic.>>
@Corey562 - I applaud your intention to pass your skills on to another.
Here is the son I introduced to pipe smoking as a way to get him to cut back (and hopefully stop) smoking cigarettes. Next time I hope to have a picture of us smoking together.
What makes a "flavored" tobacco not an aromatic? What makes an aro and aro? Casing? Top dressing?
Is this an explanation? http://www.talkingtobacco.com/2014/07/about-aromatics/
<<Many people say that they don’t smoke cased tobaccos at all. You may think that this is a true statement when in actuality it’s probably not. Almost all Virginias and Burleys have some kind of casing added to make them more palatable. What you may really mean is that you don’t smoke tobaccos that have been top-dressed. This is an area of confusion for many, if not most pipe smokers. Casing has a subtle influence on flavor, and usually very little influence on aroma. Casings are applied early on in processing, and the tobacco is dried back to a normal level using heat. Top-dressings are applied at the end, and use alcohol or some other carrier to infuse the tobacco, which is then allowed to dry naturally. Top-dressings don’t impact flavor very much at all, but they are what you smell when someone is smoking an aromatic.>>