As I stare into the bowl of my pipe, looking at the grey ash covered, red ember of the magical melding of flame and leaf, what am I to think about the day? Within that red ember... I see peace, tranquility, and a sense of calmness. The flame consuming the leaf is very much a metaphor for life. The flame is *time* and the leaf is our corporeal *body* that is being spent through life.

Now the question is what is *your* flame like and what is *your* leaf like? The answers are significant:

If the flame is hot, searing, and intense.... like the fire of a welder's arc, or the flames from a grill with too much starter fluid, then your life will be spent quickly, the time you will have will be *intense* albeit brief.

If instead your flame is gentler.... akin to the glow of a campfire, or the fire deep in the logs themselves as they are consumed, then your life will last a long time. You will have the warmth of the flame, but its consuming of you will be slower, longer, and more quiet.

If your leaf is baren and dry, such as is a pile of leaves raked in the yard in the fall, or wads of crumpled newspaper.... then your fuel is going to be spent quickly. You do not have enough density to form an ember with the flame, for the flame will consume you nearly instantaneously.

If your leaf has a robustness, perhaps due to a bit of flavoring or moisture.... then your fuel will be able to last much longer with the flame. You have a density and resiliancy that will keep you stronger, far longer.

Think of a campfire or a homefire: If you use dry, old, brittle wood, the fire is intense and brief. If you use wet, green wood, the fire is slower, cooler, and will last much longer.

In my pipe, the flame I have is cooler, and the leaf I enjoy is flavorful and moist. Hence, the beautiful pipe will last a long time, if I am careful and gentle, I can indulge from her for more than an hour.

In my view of life, I hope and wish to be a moist, flavorful leaf that is consumed by a cool, gentle flame.

Pipe Tobacco