homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Battle of Britain + Battle of Britain II Here's what happened (Continued)

Folks:

Our temp at 10:15 AM is 74°F. The high today is predicted to be 88°F. Our humidity is currently a lung gargling 91%. A 5 mph breeze barely rustles the leaves. The aroma of hot grass and pine needles permeates the air. Today will be another good summer's day in Dixie. I hope summer is being kind to you. We are not yet into the most likely time for an Atlantic hurricane yet. That will come in August and September. Any summer without a hurricane or other named storm taking a swipe at us will be considered a good summer regardless of the heat. Green has popped up in long, soldiered lines all over the nearby farmer's fields. It will be harvest time before we know it.

I have yet to hear the Cicadas join in the mixed chorus of frogs and crickets that seasons the air on warm, humid nights around here. That will come, it always has. The fish are jumping for flies and June bugs down at the beaver pond, now reconstructed after the spring flood. Before long the light green leaves of spring will completely disappear replaced by the darker mature leaves of late summer.

The sultry, lazy days of August will soon come. When I was a kid riding around my hometown August was the time of the big tobacco markets. When I passed one of the warehouses the perfume of flue-cured tobacco and the chant of the auctioneer filled the air. I'd always stop and watch a bit as the men, mostly all of them wearing overall and white straw hats stood around hoping for a go9od price as the buyers moved among the stacks of their crop. It was beastly hot outside but a bit cooler inside those big tobacco warehouses.

Those halcyon days of summer back in the 50s have gone, the tobacco fields are far fewer now. I remember still the delightful fragrance of those old warehouses. It was the only time I really liked the smell of tobacco. I never smoked cigarettes or cigars but I did enjoy a pipe for a time. I had a good humidor, good tobacco from the local Tinderbox store and quite a few expensive briars and well seasoned Meershams. I suppose I chose a pipe because my granddad smoked one. His preferred brand was called Half and Half. I preferred more exotic blends from the Tinderbox store.

One day I was interviewing a prospective "real beard" Santa for one of our malls. He was smoking an interesting corn cob pipe. He had been admiring my briar pipes arranged in a fancy walnut pipe holder on my desk. I thought to return the compliment so I said something nice about his pipe. His jolly smile faded.He seemed to think I was insincere. Perhaps making fun of his cheap pipe. I assured him I was not. I was always looking for a cool smoke and I had read that the corn cob was just that. The problem with it beyond its association in some minds with cheap was that they didn't last nearly as long as briar.

I assured him that I was truly interested and finally, he relaxed and told me where to buy one like his. This I promptly did and soon I had several corn cobs to rotate along with my fancy briars. I hired the man by the way and he worked for us each Christmas for years. Now this fellow even in civvies and in August looked more like Santa than the ones n the Coca Cola ads. One summer, I had the pleasure of bumping into the fellow on the street and both of us were smoking our corn cob pipes.

He Ho Hoed and grinned a big grin that crinkled his face and brought an extra blush to his already ruddy cheeks. He congratulated me on my fine pipe and I did the same for his. Three weeks later I heard he had passed away. He was replaced that holiday season with another real beard Santa. This man did a good job for us. But in my mind, he was never quite up to the standard the old Santa had been. Perhaps it was because, on his breaks away from the prying eyes of the kiddies, he smoked cigars?

One day I caught a cold and put down my pipes until I was well again. I never smoked anything again. I gave it up. I believe the pipe is far easier to quit than cigarettes. Today the only smoke I inhale is from a barbecue grill or if I lie in the sun too long.