I smoked a cigar last night. It was great for this sore throat I’m battling, I assure you. It was an irish cream-flavored one from Stogies on Grand, and I smoked it with some friends who are in town from California. True friends vacation from California to Minnesota in January to spend time with you!
But this whole smoking of the cigars thing was quite a process last night. And already in my pjs, a part of me wanted to forego what had at one time seemed like a really fun activity. With temps dipping below zero, we had to bundle up just to step out onto my porch. Boots, hat, coat, mittens (not my famed smoker gloves which would leave my fingertips frozen)... Then, I also brought out little tea light candles to help us light the cigars. But trying to handle the little suckers with massive mittens was not the easiest thing. Awkwardly I managed to get a hold of the cigar while my friend held the little candle, and just as I leaned in and sucked to light the cigar with the flame, the wind (with chills around -15 degrees) blew the candle out. Ok. Mittens came off. I caught my breath as the wind whipped my face. I had to reopen the matchbox, relight the match, relight the candle. Try again. And ...suck, suck, candle out again. Ugh! Mittens off again. Relight. Try again. Oh, sweet, warm fleece blanket just sitting on the other side of the window...This is so not worth it I thought, as the wind made my eyes water.
And then...finally...We got it. The cigar end turned a warm orange. But then trying to hold a cigar with mittens? Not easy. And you can just forget about looking cool while smoking a cigar in that kind of weather. But alas, we had our stogies lit, and we laughed as the smoke swirled around us and we enjoyed each other’s company and were grateful for the opportunity to be together. Ok, I thought. I’m glad I got bundled up. I licked my lips. They tingled in the coldness, and I tasted the sweet irish cream flavor.
Some of my friends are already off to a less-than-stellar 2009. The year ahead seems like quite the process...it’s already requiring so much effort, so much bundling up, and things aren’t going so easily. The flame keeps getting blown out. But, it’s there. That irish cream flavor is there. Don’t go inside yet!
2 comments:
my friend, I love your posts, I'll say it again and again. I chuckled to myself reading of all the great efforts you took to smoke your cigar ... sounds like a lot of fun.
I MISS YOU! i do hope you can come to the great capital of this nation. I have a new neighbor who just moved into town, you may have heard of him, his name rhymes with THE-ROCK.
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