Did you know that Summer officially began in the northern hemisphere on June 20th? And it doesn’t officially end until September 22nd. So, we still have about 2-1/2 months to go before the cooler weather starts appearing again. For those of you in some states, the weather will start getting cooler much sooner than September 22nd, and for those of you who live in states similiar to down here in Texas, we’ll have summer weather even longer than when that season officially ends.
There are still plenty of vacations to be taken between now and the end of summer. And you know that you’re a dedicated pipe smoker when the first thing you do when packing, is decide which pipes and tobaccos to take with you. I have a small backpack that is reserved for my vacation forays and it contains nothing but my pipes and tobaccos. I usually take 5 or 6 pipes… okay, maybe a dozen, on my vacation trips. I never have difficulty deciding which pipes to take. Hey, it’s my vacation, so naturally I load up the backpack with only my best smokers.
One must always pack plenty of ripe old pipe tobacco to take on vacation. You sure don’t want to run out of pipe weed and discover that your favorite island paradise has a single Walgreens Drug Store, and it carries only those one pound bags of bulk no name bargain blends. You know the kind of tobacco that I’m talking about, the stuff that comes in big thick baggies for .99 cents a pound and you usually see them behind the counter at that only Walgreens on the island.
Before leaving on a summer vacation trip, I make sure to open and dry out all of the tobacco that I plan on taking with me if I’m going to go to a Texas beach, or just about any other part of the state for that matter. I’ll be facing hot and humid weather no matter where I go. Whether indoors or outside, by the time it takes to pull out the tobacco from a tin or pouch and carefully put it in my pipe, the precious old weed is back to just about the right humidity before I even light it thanks to the humidity down here. I have never taken a dehumidifier with me on a vacation trip, but the more I think about it, taking one makes sense. A dehumidifier is a device that removes moisture from the air by condensing it into liquid water. But, if you are flying somewhere and not taking your own vehicle, I’m not sure that one can be found that will fit in a suitcase.
I always smoke flavorful – yet not too heavy on the palate – Virginia and Burley blends in the summer. They seem to smoke best in hot and humid weather. And since the weather will be hot and humid, I admit that I do enjoy being inside with the air conditioner going full tilt while I smoke. I discovered years ago that Latakia blends smoked indoors are not appreciated and cause for being hastily escorted outside. When that rudely happens, I remain a gentleman and grudgingly go outside, find a shaded area, and take a few puffs of that wonderful Latakia blend while smoking and sweating. Then I beat a hasty retreat back indoors. Maybe I should move to a state that never has high humidity. I did some research once and did you know that Nevada has the lowest humidity of any state in the USA with an average relative humidity sitting at 38.3%? Maybe it’s time for me to vacation at the Hoover Dam.
Happy summer puffing,
Steve
