Stogie Commentary: Seasons Change and So Do I
14 Dec 2009
The seasons bring on many changes. For me, those changes admittedly alter my otherwise consistent cigar smoking routines.
This time of year, for example, I generally find myself smoking fewer cigars. There just seems to be less time. The days are shorter. The holidays keep me busy with travel. And there are always an awful lot of gatherings and other functions to attend, many of which aren’t cigar-friendly.
When I do find the time to smoke, the cold weather makes it less enjoyable. It’s a big production to put on a pot of coffee, set up the space-heater, and bundle up with hats, gloves, and heavy coats. Well, maybe it’s not a big production. But you have to agree that summer smoking is a lot easier, which requires little more than a cutter, shorts, an adult beverage, and matches.
Speaking of matches, that’s another change that comes along with winter: I find myself less patient outside, forgoing my regular old wooden matches for a butane torch. I guess I’d rather just get things going quickly and spend less time enjoying the sights, sounds, and aromas of slowly toasting the foot.
As my colleague wrote almost three years ago, “to brave inclement weather shows true dedication to the wonderful hobby that is cigars.†Agreed. But these days I’d rather not be out there too long. So the weather also determines the size of cigars I smoke, making it less likely I’ll fire up a Churchill and more likely I’ll select a short stick from my humidor.
In addition to these changes, winter also makes me even more pissed off about the prevalence of government-imposed smoking bans in private places. While I hate such regulations year-round, I do most of my smoking on my patio and—until the temperatures start to drop—don’t mind being outside.
Now, though, I’d rather be indoors. And this year will be worse than last because Virginia, where I reside, recently criminalized smoking in restaurants and bars. So I’m cut off from many of my previous cold-weather sanctuaries (and those sanctuaries are cut off from my business).
But the show must go on. It will go on. I have the honor and privilege of reviewing cigars for this website. And, like many of you, I have the resolve to laugh in the face of Jack Frost…at least as long as I have a steady supply of warm coffee.
In a few months, football season will be ending and spring training—along with warmer temperatures and a return to cigar normalcy—will be here. For me, those changes can’t come soon enough.
photo credit: Flickr