The Leave 7

Even though, the majority of what I have written about my conference here seems wholly ancillary, the national conference I attended and presented at is a wonderful, valuable conference for me.  And, my presentation there also went well!  

There are five big national conferences associated with different facets of my research background.   I pick and choose between each year and if I am lucky enough to have my work accepted.... I try to attend as many as I can afford each year.  Usually it is two a year, and so of those five national conferences, I usually aim for the two (one in a lean year) that are in the more "interesting" locations.  There are (of course) a number of regional conferences I attend, and have many of my researchers attend as well... those are cheaper.

With things being a bit more "lean" this year especially with the huge inflation we have been experiencing especially in air travel, I still have managed to aim for and have my work accepted at two conferences.  But, this one I was at.... was chosen NOT so much for the "interesting" location (tongue-in-cheek, you will see why below), but because, relatively speaking, it was on the "cheaper" side of costs and I could reasonably expect to reasonably afford to add this one to the more costly one in Washington D.C. later this year.  Please do keep in mind that "cheap" is a relative term.  Penny pinching me, finds most things far too damn expensive.

So.... this city is renowned for one thing.... gambling and casinos.  That is its original "claim to fame."

It may come as a SHOCK to you (meant tongue-in-cheek)..... but I find absolutely NO fun nor enjoyment in gambling.  I believe I have been at a casino twice..... MAYBE three times in my life (the experiences are wholly forgettable to me).  The first time I went.... just to see what it was all about, but was admittedly nervous.  The other one (or perhaps TWO?) times I was "dragged" there because others I was with wanted very much to go.... this (these) were while at "deer camp" many years ago.  

Gambling just does not enthrall me in any way.  I have played slot machines (yawn), I have played blackjack (yawn), and I have even played a roulette wheel (yawn).  I only did each of these things once or twice each, because..... to me, it is not enjoyable or fun.  IF I have a gambling gene in my genome, it must be fully ensconced and encased within methylation proteins so they are shut down completely and do not express.  I think..... perhaps I have thrown away maybe ~ $40 total (perhaps a bit less) in these casino games across my lifespan.   

Do not get me wrong.... I do not begrudge folks gambling at the casinos if it is their "thing" and they do so responsibly.  It just is NOT for me. My most frequent kind of "gambling" is that I will occasionally,  perhaps once a month or so, buy a $2 "Lotto" ticket and daydream a bit, until of course I lose.

My wife.... finds it mildly entertaining to go to the casino.  She is fortunately reasonably frugal, and probably goes perhaps once a year.... usually with a plethora of relatives from her side of the family who greatly enjoy such pursuits.  

So, being in the "land of gambling" my wife did have the idea that she would want to spend at least a little time in one of the casinos.  To my manner of thinking, in 2026, they are even less appealing than my prior forays from long ago..... the same (to me, silly) games.... but they have all been enhanced with dramatically more flashing lights, dramatically more and much larger electronic displays, and..... the worst part..... dramatically MORE noise (beeps, boops, etc). So, we came up with a plan.

In my pre-travel research, I happened to find that there was a cigar bar/lounge located in the complex of one of these massive hotels that also had a shopping center and a casino.  It happened to be in the complex that is called the "Paris" (I presume there is a Paris Hotel tied to the casino and what was likely called the "Paris" shopping complex or some such thing.... but part of this shopping complex had the cigar bar/lounge called "Montecristo".  

So on the last evening before our flights to return home began.... after the conference had concluded in the midday.... we moseyed over to the "Paris" complex, and she aimed for the casino (with the shopping complex as a backup if she grew bored), and I headed to the "Montecristo".  

My envisioned "plan" before we went on the trip, would be that I would go in to the Montecristo and indulge in a cigar and in a gin and tonic (as I think I have written about here, I really enjoy gin and tonics on the rare occasion I have an actual mixed drink.... I last had one in January of this year, at the 50th Wedding Anniversary party held for my sister and brother-in-law). 

The Montecristo was extremely elegant and "upper-crust" in appearance and all the staff were formally attired.  The place was REALLY impressive and beautiful.... and quite large.  Its "look" was quite classy.... and it definitely "outclassed" in appearances the more "homey" place where the "Retiree's Cigar Group" meets... which is in a smallish, semi-rural town in an historic, but somewhat decrepit storefront in its downtown.  

Upon entering the humidor room, I was met by a tuxedoed fellow who asked if he could show me around some of the various cigar offerings.  I let him talk with me a bit and show me a few things, but then I told him I would still like to look around more before I made my decision.  

Of course, things were outrageously expensive, and there were many cigars there that were in the $100 or more price range.  I did see one offering that was slightly above $500.   But, they had a wide assortment, even a few of which I recognized even from seeing them as an offering at the shop where the Retiree's Cigar Group meets.... but (as to be expected) much more expensive at Montecristo's. 

I ended up choosing a budget friendly, larger gauged "Churchill" style cigar called "JFR 770" because I truly am not that nuanced about cigars and did not want to spend my "life savings" (penny pincher that I am) on a cigar.  I paid for the cigar...  and proceeded into the lounge.  

When I sat down in a very comfortable, leather chair at one side of the room, a young lady, again very formally attired came out and offered me a drink menu.  But, truthfully, the extreme heat (of course Montecristo was air conditioned, but I mean all the heat we had been experiencing all through the trip) made the thought of drinking ANY sort of alcoholic drink generally rather unpalatable to me.  So, I ended up asking her if I could get a large, iced tonic water with lime in it.  I do enjoy the bitterness of tonic water so it was a good choice, though I did miss the juniper flavoring of the gin itself.   

The large JFR cigar was a 7x70 so it was VERY large.  It was pleasant.  I sat, enjoyed the cigar in the peace and quiet, read a little bit of some of the literature I had accumulated at the meeting, but mostly I stared out the windows of the Montecristo into the shopping complex and people-watched... as a large array of people milled around from shop-to-shop.  

It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.  It was quiet.  When I met back up with my wife, she happily reported that she "broke even" from her adventure.  So, it was a nice late afternoon before heading back to the hotel to swim and plan dinner.  The Montecristo was nice to visit,  but I did very much miss the more homey feel of and the tremendously enjoyable conversations of my friends in the "Retiree's Cigar Group".  

PipeTobacco

  

The Leave 6

On one of the days of our journey, I met my wife during the lunch period and we found in one of the many shopping mall areas that many of the hotels had, a replica "Irish Pub" where we decided to stop to eat lunch.  

The heat had us both not feeling OVERLY hungry, but we wanted something fun and light.  Although a Guinness would have been fun to have.... both my wife and I stuck with simply iced water (she very rarely drinks, and the heat made the Guinness seem to me  less appealing than just the water).   But, what we had to eat was quite fun:

1.  We had an appetizer order of "Irish Deviled Eggs" which we shared.  The plate was pleasantly filled with many deviled eggs, and the filling was exceptionally creamy and had a beautifully nuanced flavor of spices (rosemary and basil were two I could identify).  We both thought they were exceptional and very delicious… much, much tastier than just a run-of-the mill deviled egg.  

2.  With our "light" theme, we then each decided to have a "wedge salad" (for me, with the dressing on the side on my salad).  It was quite pleasantly large, and it tasted wonderfully fresh…. and after each of our first bites, we both proclaimed simultaneously that it "... was the perfect thing to order".  

3.  We also shared a side of braised, brown sugar and tarragon seasoned carrots which were both tender AND crunchy, and their flavors were enticing.  

It really turned out to be a perfect and light lunch!  We were both very pleased.

PipeTobacco

The Leave 5

I did run while I was on my trip.  But, because it was in a heat wave (average daily high temperatures were around 114-118 degrees Fahrenheit (~46 - 48 Celsius),   I was glad that the hotel had a fitness center with a number of treadmills.  So, I ran inside the fitness center every day..... except for one day..... Day 4.

In my pre-planning for this trip, I looked up "parks" near where I was staying, and of the various options, some of which were costly "event" parks, some were "water parks", there was one that I did find that was a more simple, free, "picnic-ey" park with walking trails, pavilions and similar such items.  It was humorously named "Siegfried & Roy Park" presumably since either this magic/comedic duo funded a large part of it, or perhaps in honor of their long standing, well attended shows in the area.  I am not sure.  

On this very early morning, I got up around 5:30am and prepared to go running outside.  At that time of the day, just prior to sunrise, it was probably only somewhere in the 90s in terms of temperature.  I figured I could have an "adventure" and run to this park.  Normally when running outside these days, I have an arm band that can hold my phone so I can use earphones and listen to my Catholic music channel while praying the rosary.  However, when I first began running long ago, I first used different pack to carry my phone.  I believe it would be more commonly described as a "fanny pack" but I never used it in that sort of orientation on my body.... it would be horrible to run with something like that strapped around your waist.  For the brief period of time I did use it while running, I had it slung over my shoulder, more akin to a tiny backpack. It did the job in an "ok" fashion, until I found the arm band variety, which then supplanted it.  

But, today, I was going to use the "fanny pack" because... besides my phone, I had (in a sock) the pipe I brought.  And, also in the fanny pack, I had the small bag of a few pinches of pipe tobacco, and a small box of matches from the Iwan Ries trip a few years ago.  I dressed in my running gear and shoes, and headed down to the first floor.  

It was still very hot outside, but probably only in the mid 90s.  In the very early darkness with just a glimmer of dawn occurring, I turned on my "gizmo watch" to record my distance, and slowly jogged off in the general direction of where the park would be.  Navigating the city is not easy, nor traditional.  This is the "off season" in Nevada, and most everywhere was under some form of repair or construction.  But I hoofed and hoofed for a while, trying to see more of the area, but also being sure I was still heading generally towards the park.  I finally found the park, and looked at my watch, I had only ran a little tiny bit beyond 2 miles (~3 km), but that was fine by me, due to the heat.  I walked deeper into the park.  I saw a walker in the distance, but not really anyone else.  The park officially opened at 6:00am, and it was only about 6:30 when I arrived.  As to be expected in Nevada, there really was not much in the way of greenery in this park.  But, it was pleasant.  Deeper into the park I found a rather isolated pavilion and sat down.  Unlike the city, it was QUIET and peaceful, and much more contemplative.  

Due to the ambiguities of TSA in flying, I know better than to bring a lighter in my carry on material..... it is not allowed and would be confiscated.  That is why I had matches, instead.  But, with the ambiguities of TSA, I also did not want to bring with me an expensive pipe, so what I did bring with me was one of my "work horse" large bowled, full bent Dr. Grabow pipes.  It was one that had always been extremely reliable and had had ample use.  But, it was also (in my opinion) very nice looking, and as I had done some polishing of my pipes a few months ago, it looked VERY nice to me.  I took out the small bag of the pipe tobacco.  As you know from my prior post, it contained some of the McClelland's M58 that a very nice friend had sent to me.  I was eager to relive its beauty.  But, it must be noted, that I never routinely smoked a pipe filled only with an aromatic blend.   Most aromatics, including the M58, are made of VERY mild pipe tobaccos so as to not obscure the flavorings of an aromatic.  But for me, the quite mild take of an aromatic alone, usually did not appeal to me.  Do not get me wrong... I enjoy the flavorings of many aromatics.  But, and I guess I learned this from my Dad, it is my long standing preference to always mix the aromatic with some more robust, pipe tobacco that is unadorned with flavorings to give it more a greater "heft" or "substance".  So, in this case, the bag had it in a mix of roughly 50% M 58 and roughly 50% simple, plain, but more robust Sir Walter Raleigh cube cut.  

As I sat in the pavilion, I started to carefully and patiently fill the bowl of the pipe with this blended pair of pipe tobaccos.  I was pleased that I apparently still had a good judging eye, as the amount of the leaf I had brought in the small bag, was able to completely fill the bowl to just the right level of firmness.  Even though I have often used what is sometimes called a "parfait" approach to filling my pipe in the past (one layer of regular pipe tobacco, then on top a layer of the aromatic), this time, I was working slowly to assure and even mixture of both tobaccos throughout the bowl (the two tobaccos WERE mixed in the bag, but their two different cuts (shredded for the M 58, cube cut for the SWR) had them naturally disaggregate a bit in the bag.  

I looked around a bit more, and decided to orient myself into a seat that allowed me to face in the direction of the mountains of the region.  Mountain viewing is not something I am commonly privy to, and so it seemed an especially good view to choose.  The pavilion also provided shade from the sun for me, which was also very helpful.  

It is both very comforting to me, but also a little surprising.... that all the old gestures, actions, and movements involved in filling and smoking a pipe.... did not feel at all "rusty" nor "atypical".  In fact, it felt so perfectly natural, that it still felt akin to eating, drinking, breathing.... it was just a normal, ingrained set of behaviors.  

I then clenched the stem of the pipe gently between my teeth, and I removed one of the nice, wooden, blue-tipped matches, and gently scraped the head against the rough side of the box.  The flame erupted easily and then settled into a warm, yellow, raindrop shape at the head.  I tilted the shaft of the match downward slightly to coax the flame to widen a bit, and then brought it up to bowl of my pipe, and began the slow process of drawing the flame into the crumbles of leaf.  Even though there really wasn't much if any of a breeze to speak of, I naturally cupped my palm around the bowl with the upper portion of my palm creating a shield to protect the flame of the match from being blown out by any errant wind. 

I then shook out the match, and with my thumb, gently pressed on the leaf to even it and firm the top a bit.  Then I ignited a second match, widened its flame, and relit my pipe until there was a full, even ember across the top.  

Words could not adequately describe the pleasure and joy I experienced with the rich flavors and textures of the beloved pipe smoke.  I experienced a pure comfort gently move throughout my body, and I could feel my facial muscles relax.  The peach flavoring (well, actually apricot as reported by Pat M) accentuated the beauty of the area around me, feeling especially fitting for the array of brown, orange and blue hues of the scene before me. Indulging in the beauty of that pipe and the pipe tobacco felt so profoundly beautiful, I could feel tears of joy well in my eyes.  My body felt at peace.

As I had ran to the park, I had worked through praying two of the decades of the Joyful Mysteries.  But, as I sat there in the park, looking at the mountains, I decided to start again with my rosary prayers, but this time I thought it more fitting to focus on the five decades of the Luminous Mysteries.  So, over the next hour, I sat there, feeling profoundly peaceful, quiet, contemplative, and prayerful as I focused on these Luminous Mysteries as I continued to enjoy my pipe in such a bucolic desert setting.  

By the time I had finished the rosary, I only had a few more minutes beyond that with my pipe... before its wonderful contents had completely converted to ash and the ember expired.  I knocked the whiteish/grey ashes out of the bowl and quietly put my pipe and all the other items back into the fanny pack.  

But, I did not want to immediately leave.  I wanted to remain within the beautiful artistry about me, and I wanted to extend and savor the beauty I continued to mentally and physically experience from the now concluded pipe.  So, I sat there probably an additional 20 minutes or so, before I stood, and then walked back out of the park.  

Once out of the park, I started again to slowly jog back to the hotel.  I did get off track a bit on my way back, so in total, I slowly ran a total of ~4.5 miles (~7.25 km) that day..... below my usual, but sufficient for the day and for the heat.  As I jogged back, I finished with praying the remaining three Joyful Mysteries as I ran... so as to not leave those unfinished.  

Upon my return, I headed up to the room, but quickly changed into my bathing suit, went up to the top floor pool.... and splashed around for about 10 minutes to cool off.... went back to the room, changed, and was able to get to the 10:30 am talk I wanted to see at the meeting.   

PipeTobacco  

The Leave 4

Although it is perhaps NOT a good idea to admit this, but one of the television programs my wife and I have grown fond of watching is called "Hell's Kitchen".  We have probably watched most seasons of this program and it features the chef Gordon Ramsey, as he navigates a group of contestant chefs through various tasks, cook-offs, and dinner services in his restaurant by the same name as the program..... to eventually select one finalist who will win a job as Head Chef at one of his various "Hell's Kitchen" restaurants that Ramsey owns and operates.   For those of you know may have no knowledge of the show, it is a rather bombastic affair, with a lot of yelling and urgency through the entirety of the show..... and sometimes that "intensity" gets a bit tiresome.  But, we still watch.  

Well.... as we have been regular watchers of this show for several years, there is routinely featured, many challenges where the food these contestant chefs are tasked with producing and serving are of several "signature" Gordon Ramsey dishes.  He demands (especially for dramatic effect) perfection in the preparation and serving of these dishes, and when they do not meet his standards, he becomes irate, and will often literally smash and thrown the errant preparations on the floor, or wall, or ceiling.  

So, over the many years of watching, my wife and I had often commented on some of these signature dishes and how it would be interesting to try them. The MAJOR dish neither of us had had that we really felt would be interesting to try was Beef Wellington.  For a number of years we would scour menus of places we would go in search of a restaurant that had Beef Wellington on their menu... to no avail.  Sure, there were a small handful of instances where we saw an on-line menu of a place we were traveling to with Beef Wellington.... but none ever panned out..... either it was not on the menu the day we could go, or it was no longer on the menu, or in once case, the restaurant had closed for remodeling.  

So, it has been a bit of a culinary "holy grail" for us to find Beef Wellington somewhere, just to finally TRY it.  Every time we would see it on the show, it would remind us of our quest.  

But, over the years, there were several of Ramsey's "signature" dishes that were novel (to both of us anyway) that we thought it would be interesting to try them.  The "big four" were:

a.  Beef Wellington [main course]

b.  Lobster Risotto (or any of his various Risottos) [an appetizer]

c.  Pan Seared Scallops [an appetizer]

d.  Sticky Toffee Pudding [a dessert]

So.... when this conference came into fruition, we both decided that we would purposefully plan to actually have a dinner at the actual "Hell's Kitchen" there.  So, my wife made us reservations (fortunately, a few months in advance, as the dates apparently run out quite rapidly).  

So, on the evening of Day 3 of the journey, after I was done "conferencing" for the day, my wife and I set out (hoofing in the 114 degree heat) to walk to "Hell's Kitchen" to have dinner.  We were both still basking in the relief that our pup was doing well, so it started to feel much more vibrant and relaxing as well! We had already ascertained it would be PRICEY.... and so as to keep my penny-pinching anxieties at bay, we had a few guiding principles:

1.  My WIFE would the one to use our card to PAY for the meal... so I would not have to look at and see its exorbitant price.... and I would not be as aware of how guilty I should feel about this extravagance.

2.  We both would only drink water..... which actually was preferred by both of us.... my wife does not really drink alcoholic beverages much (perhaps 1 or 2 each year), and my more "robust" drinking of perhaps 1 or 2 drinks a month on average) is not a whole helluva lot different.  And, it so happened that with the heat, we BOTH were much preferring water anyhow.

3.  We both agreed that we would only order the items we had specifically agreed upon.  One appetizer each, one main course each, and one dessert we would share (and we were planning on sharing the different appetizers and main courses as well).

4.  So we ordered a) the scallops dish, b) the lobster risotto, c) the beef wellington, d) the Sticky Toffee Pudding, and because we needed one more main course dish, the one that most appealed to my wife was their "Crispy Skin Salmon".  I was indifferent to which additional main course we would order, so we ordered the "Crispy Skin Salmon".  

The food WAS absolutely delicious.  We both ended up with the same rankings of our preferences..... again EVERYTHING was delicious, but our rank order of preferences was:

1.  Lobster risotto - amazingly creamy, and the unique spices (I could not identify them) were beautifully present and exceedingly unctuous and delightful.  And, even though I am actually rather indifferent about lobster, it was very well done, and my wife (who really likes lobster) reports that it was excellent.  

2.  Sticky Toffee Pudding - in all regards, this was as close to a "perfect" dessert as either of us have ever had.  It was "cakey", and it was beautifully caramelized and warm. The spices were delightfully vivid and broad and tasted extra "fresh" if that makes any sense.  The concept and execution were amazing.... I still remember the distinct flavors and textures very well.  

3.  Pan Seared Scallops - I had never had scallops before.  My wife has, but was never excited or impressed.  We both found these to be very delightful.  They were smooth, had pleasantly browned edges, and they had another sauce upon them that was subtle, but had a hint of rosemary in it, and on top were what is called "micro-greens".  

4.  Beef Wellington - perhaps it was because we had waited so very long for this.... but the Beef Wellington, while EXCELLENT, paled in comparison to the above three items.  I was anticipating a plethora of rich flavors and textures as was my wife.  Again, it was very good..... it was enveloped in a pastry crust (which was good, but ordinary), the mushroom "pate" surrounding the beef was tasty, but NOT particularly unique in flavor, and the beef (which was only allowed to be served "medium rare") was tender and pleasing..... but.... again it was not "unique" in a way both of us were anticipating.  Medium rare was also a rather "unique" experience for both of us, as both my wife and I tend towards "medium well" when we have beef (I do not often eat beef, but when I do it is usually medium well OR well.... my wife has it far more often than me, but typically goes medium well).  The very BEST part of our beef wellington was the rich and tasty "wine demi-glaze reduction sauce"  that was served on the side.  We both wished there would have been more of that sauce, as it truly added tremendously to the flavor profile of the dish.   

5.  "Crispy Skinned Salmon" - a very good salmon dish.  It had a pleasant dill flavoring with it.  But, both my wife and I have had similar salmon before at other places.  So, it was EXCELLENT, but not particularly unique.  The one aspect of Ramsey's variation of this dish that was part of the reason we ordered it was the "Crispy Skin" aspect.  Neither of us had had that previously.  Now, truth-be-told, I am not really "into" eating any kind of skin from anything..... no chicken, no salmon, no duck (I have never had ANY duck actually), no pork rinds either.  But, I was game to give it a go for the sake of this experience.  My wife was surprisingly for her, a bit "weirded out" when we finally got the dish, about actually eating a piece of fish skin.... she told me she thought it was only to imbue a unique flavor to the salmon itself. I remembered from the many cooking shows we have watched over the years, that the judges always DID eat the crispy skin on salmon.  So, my wife ate a very small bit of the skin and still felt "weirded out".  When I tried it with a bit of the actual salmon... it WAS crispy and crunchy.... and it had the vast majority of the spices in it so it complemented the salmon nicely.  But, texturally, it did "weird me out" a bit too.  I do not think I would ever PURPOSEFULLY order a "skin" dish of any sort again.... and if I did, I would probably leave the skin part alone.  

So, overall we had a very exciting time at our "big adventure" to Hell's Kitchen!  We were both really glad we were able to arrange it and we both had a wonderful time trying all these dishes we had heard about for so long.  And, the restaurant itself, even though glossy and "television show focused" in the LOBBY with all sorts of show related memorabilia available for purchase.... was quite beautiful in the dining room.... and it felt very romantic for both of us during our meal.  

* * *

Today is the Retiree's Cigar Group.  I am planning on trying to be there.  I am hoping I can get enough work done to make it so!  I would really like to talk with the guys.

PipeTobacco

 

   

The Leave 3

I have a very kind, Internet friend, who I met, heck.... probably close to 15 -20 years ago (I think so, anyway).  We met on a discussion board about comics.  By comics, I mean the types of comic panels that used to be published in every newspaper, every day across the land.  Comics like... Peanuts, Gasoline Alley, For Better or Worse, The Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, Luann..... and many, many others.  

I first joined this discussion board due to the suggestion from my secretary at the time, who also shared an interest in these newspaper comics, and also shared my disappointment at the rapid decline in newspapers..... and their publishing of these types of comics.  

The site was actually quite active and fun, and I quickly grew a list of perhaps 25 or so comics that I visited regularly and often commented upon as well (in addition to publishing these comics, each comic had its own discussion board).  I also had another 40 or so comics I would occasionally look at.  

Well, one of the fellows who was also on this comic board, was a regular and I began to notice and recognize his comments because he typically had very insightful and well thought out things to share.  

We ended up often commenting on the same comics and also often replied to comments each other had made as well.  I eventually also learned that he and I had some commonalities.... most notably...... a) a strong interest in music (he is by FAR the stronger musician, however), b) he and I are both Catholic, and both are deeply immersed in our Faith, and.... c) he also is fond of pipes and pipe tobaccos!  

Through a series of events, this fellow, this Internet friend of mine.... did a very, very kind gesture.... he surprised me by mailing to me a small box... in which was a rather hefty pouch of pipe tobacco.  And, it was not just any old pipe tobacco, but it was from the McClellands Tobacco Company, which is a (now defunct) small batch, "artisan" pipe tobacco company.  I had never had any pipe tobacco from that company, and this gift was extremely kind of him, and very pleasant.  

The pipe tobacco itself was designated as "M 58" which I believe meant "Mixture 58".  It was an aromatic pipe tobacco.  Back when I had first tried it, I was pleasantly surprised as it was unlike other pipe tobaccos I had experienced.  I could see that it had Cavendish tobacco and what I presume is some mild form of burley.  But the flavoring was what was rather unique to me.  It had a "fruit" flavoring, and I am not 100% sure of my accuracy, but to me it reminded me of peach schnapps.  That was the "room note" anyhow.  And, the nice thing that I remember about it was that the "peach" flavoring was not heavy handed, nor artificially "peachy" but did remind me of actual peaches.  

Well.... over time, after some proper air drying (as is commonly needed with many aromatics), I ended up consuming roughly 1/2 of the pipe tobacco he had sent.  But, as I have done several times over the years, when I find a rather unique pipe tobacco that I might not easily find again, I store some in a lidded, glass pint jar and I have these jars in a few drawers in my desk in my den/office.  I had taped the "M 58" label to the jar as well.  

So, about two weeks before my trip to Nevada, I happened to be looking around in my desk, trying to find something or other and I stumbled across the pint jar with the "M 58" in it, and it brought back a lot of memories.  I unscrewed the lid so I could once again smell its very fragrant aroma.  And, it got me to thinking..... as you all know, I keep trying to think of potential ways to be able to "safely" indulge in a pipe every once in a while, without garnering the very real risk of my falling "off the wagon" which I think is a BIG risk for me.  But, I suddenly had the thought.... perhaps I could have a pipe while I was out in Nevada, if I could find some time, and a pleasant enough location to enjoy it?  So, well before my dog showed any of her illness symptoms... I had packed away in my backpack with a book, reading glasses, a single change of clothes, toothbrush etc. (to carry on the plane).... also a pipe and the equivalent of about a bowlful of the M 58 in a baggie.  I was hoping to see if I could find a nice spot while in Nevada to relive the experience of that McClelland blend.  

* * * * *

Just in case it was not clear from yesterday's post... very fortunately my beloved dog DID improve after about 3 or so days on the medication, and our kids reported that she had normal poops for the remainder of our time away.  And, when we did finally return home..... she was her frisky (for a 14 year old pup) self and greeted us very happily!

PipeTobacco

 

The Leave 2

 

Our beloved dog is 14 years old.  Even though she is in good health, I worry considerably about her if we have to go on a trip (like this Conference, I went to).  When she was young, if a need for such a trip arose, we could, when necessary, have her stay at a very nice kennel.  When she was young, she actually was excited and enthusiastic to be at the kennel.  But, even when young, she would be SO very active and enthralled at the new environment.... with lots of other dogs..... she typically would bark incessantly while there, and often would not eat much during her stay.  She would typically come home thoroughly exhausted and would sleep for a few days before returning to her usual self.   So, even though she would be wriggling with excitement and anticipation when we brought her to the kennel...... it was a lot of stress for her.  

For the last several years, I think I started this when she was around 10 years old.... I was worried that the kennel experience was not good for her, especially as she was getting older.  This made trips a lot more difficult, and anytime a trip opportunity came up, my first expressed thought was "What about our dog?".... which sometimes had my wife become a bit disgruntled... but it was an essential component (at least to me) that had to be figured out before any actual trip could be agreed to.  

So, generally, what has happened in these last four years would be that one or more of our adult children would need to be asked to babysit our dog IF we were going to be going on a trip.  And, generally this has been an "ok" arrangement.  

So..... now to the near present..... 2.5 days before our scheduled trip (for me to go to this conference), with all the non-refundable tickets purchased, and the hotel booked, etc.... I take our dog out in the early morning for her "constitutional" (so she can go to the bathroom).  And, unfortunately.... our dog, as she sniffs around for a suitable spot, and she finally sits to relieve herself..... but she begins straining...... straining to release feces (I will use "poop" for the rest of this blog post).  Regrettably, I have seen this before.  She continues to squat and strain...... and then suddenly releases a copious quantity of very liquidy diarrhea.  

My throat tightens.  I clench my teeth.  I can feel a surge of stress hormones course through my body. 

I take her inside, and encourage her to drink some water.  She is quieter than typical. 

I wait about 20 minutes, and take her back outside again.  A replay of the straining ensues, and the ending is an actual gusher of diarrhea.  Again, she was acting rather listless and not her usual robust self.  

Now I am in panic mode.

My dog has had these exact same challenges twice before.  One occurrence was about a year and a half earlier, and the first occurrence was roughly a year and a half before the second.  In both of those situations, I ended up taking our dog to the veterinarian, and she was prescribed a medication (in pill form) that was given to her twice a day for several days.  The medication worked well in both occurrences and she would stop straining and have normal firmness poops within several days.   

I call the veterinarian immediately when the office opens.  The veterinary is usually VERY heavily booked and try to get an appointment for as quickly as I can, but there are no spots available for two days.  I am in an even bigger panic now, and try to carefully explain the situation to the office manager, about how our dog is behaving, how we had had this occur twice previously, and the medication that was prescribed both times.... and then I explain about the conference trip and beg and plead with this office manager to speak to the veterinarian to ask..... plead.... with him to provide us with this medication again..... and to please let me pick it up as soon as possible TODAY (that day, 2.5 days prior to our scheduled flight).  

The office manager says she will relay my information to the veterinarian when she gets to see him later, and that she will eventually call me back.  

I sit an wait in panic mode.  Then the panic further deepens..... even if I get the medication.... I am the ONLY one who can successfully get our dog to consume the medication.  Our dog is exceedingly pill aversive.  No matter if we put the pill in a piece of hot dog, or wrap it in bacon, or coat it with a glob of peanut butter (all three things she willingly eats).... she will eat around the pill and spit it out.  The ONLY way we (meaning ME) has successfully given our dog any oral medication is by liquifying it and then using a syringe (with no needle), squirt it into the very back of her throat and then coax her to swallow.  I have a small mortar and pestle specifically for this purpose for our dog and a box of non-needled, 3cc syringes to administer the medical solutions or suspensions she has been given.  

NO ONE has ever been successful in giving her any medication in our family even though my wife and many of our kids have TRIED.  Our dog puts up a tremendous struggle, and will not open her mouth when she sees the syringe or smells the medicine.  I am the only one who can hold her still enough, and can force open her jaws so I can squirt the solution in to the very back of her throat and then clamp her mouth shut, and massage her neck to get her to swallow the medication.  And, even though I can (and always have) do this, it is a very, very difficult undertaking.  

Do not get me wrong, our dog is a medium sized terrier (~37 pounds (~17 kg)).  She is not mean, she does not growl or bite anyone who tries to give her medicine.... she just will NOT hold still and will NOT let anyone unclamp her jaws.... except ME.... and it is not that she wants to do so with me either.... but I can force it if it is for her own good.  

* * * * *

Finally, a couple of hours later, the office manager calls me back and tells me that the veterinarian agreed to prescribe the medication for our dog, and that I had to pick it up sometime in the late afternoon before the office closed.  

I immediately give her a dose of the medicine.  To do so, I have to take one of the tablets, cut it in half, and crush it in the mortar and pestle.  I then draw into the syringe, roughly 3cc of lukewarm tap water, squirt it into the powder, grind it a bit more to create a slurry, and then draw it back into the syringe.  

Then the fun begins.  I have to call over my dog, and she sees the syringe and is not pleased.  After some coaxing, with me sitting on the floor, legs crossed, I get her to sit in between my legs and I have to gently but firmly hold her with my legs as I gently but firmly grasp her snout with one hand and work her very unwilling jaws open.... and I have to keep her jaws open as I then, with my other hand insert the syringe into the back of her throat and squirt out the medicine.  Her natural inclination is to spit out the fluid, but I clamp her mouth shut, and begin to massage her neck until she swallows it.   

It is a bit of an ordeal.  An ordeal that no one else in our family has every been able to do successfully.  That is why I am still quite worried.  The medication is typically given over the course of eight days.... twice a day.  And, we are set to leave for the conference in roughly 2.5 days.  

So, I am nervous as hell, and I try to push her medicine times a little bit so that I ultimately give her, her fifth dose on the morning before my wife and I head to the airport.  I have been very, very diligently watching our dog poop every single time I take her out, and she is still straining and having diarrhea the whole time.  This is not exactly unexpected, as in previous times, it took a few days before any noticeable improvement occurred.  But, I was hoping to see some signs of a turn around before we left.  

Two of our kids were going to be tag teaming taking care of our beloved pup.  But, neither of them were ever successful in giving the dog medicine, so I was worried.  

So, my wife and I left.  Unfortunately, my son, who was taking the first shift taking care of our pup, was not going to get to our home until late in the early evening due to his work commitments.  This also worried me because I was concerned that with the diarrhea, our dog would need to go out earlier than that. 

With flights and layovers, we did not arrive at our hotel until very late in the evening in Nevada, but upon landing I talked with my son.  He said that our dog did not eat her dinner and that she only urinated, and that she was moping around, rather listless.  

The above news was NOT unexpected, as our dog tends to go off her normal cycle of eating a bit when we (or perhaps more accurately, when I) are/am away.  She also tends to mope around too.  But, I had been HOPING my son would have reported she had a firm, solid poop.  

It was around 10pm Nevada time, and  far too late in the evening Eastern Time to try to talk my son through the elaborate process of trying to give the dog her medicine, so I asked him to call me immediately in the morning when he got up to take her out, and report back.... with plans that I would try to walk him through the process of trying to give her medicine (again, he "kind of" knows the process, but has never had any real success ever with it.... his getting her to open her jaws is the biggest stumbling block, but he also has difficulty (even when I would hold her jaws open for him in previous times) getting the syringe positioned correctly to release the medicine so that she would swallow.  The times we had tried before had failed with the dog coughing and gagging and spitting out the medicine.

So, I was still very worried, and was very concerned she needed medicine, but there would probably be limited-to-no success in my son getting her to take it.  

He called us at 3:10am Nevada time..... and he (miraculously) told us that he took our dog out and she had a soft, but definitely solid poop!!!!!!!!   That was very wonderful news!!!!!  But, I was still concerned that perhaps it would not last without receiving more medicine.  But, instead of trying to guide and navigate a (probably unsuccessful) medication administration for our dog by talking my son through the process, I told him that we would see how things go and that we he finished work, to please immediately come to our house and take her out immediately and to call me.  

Well, to make a long story a BIT briefer.... when he called later in the day, he reported that our dog had a normal poop and did eat MOST of her dinner (she had skipped breakfast).  I was overjoyed.  I was still a bit worried for another day or so until there was some consistency in these results.... but there WAS that consistency.  

We were very, very fortunate that our dog recovered through this ordeal successfully, given all the challenges that had ensued.  By day 3 of the trip, I actually felt I could begin to relax some concerning our dog.  It was such an enormous relief.  

* * * * * 

The image I chose today for the "Leave 2" is of a farm field where they are growing a crop of tobacco.  The large, beautiful, green leaves are visible in the image.  I have not traveled enough in the South to have ever been much out in the farm regions so I have never seen a tobacco field in person.  The relatively infrequent times I have been to meetings in the South, it has been in bigger cities (like Atlanta, for instance).  But when I see such an image, I always imagine it being a time in roughly the 1880s or 1890s and I imagine the large curing barns, and the processing to create pipe tobacco and cigars.  

PipeTobacco

The Leave 1

 

The past two weeks, as I stated before, were a whirlwind of activity, with both good and bad points.  Broadly, I was away due to a conference I was presenting at, the Society for Developmental Biology which was the national meeting of all of embryology minded folks.  The conference was in Nevada this year.  And, it was SCORCHING.  In total, only 6 days were at the conference itself.  It was between 114 - 118 degrees Fahrenheit as a high temperature (~46 - 48 degrees Celsius) every day we were there.  Even at the "coldest" of each night, there lowest "LOW" temperature we experienced was 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius).  

Folks were walking around rather slowly to and from different areas the whole time.  One afternoon, I was able to take a break from the conference, and my wife and I were able to walk to and attend a showing at "The Sphere" which was extremely enjoyable.  We watched "The Sphere"'s version of "The Wizard of Oz" and, while it was both edited and electronically enhanced, it was a wonderful experience.  The wrap-around view, and even the electronic enhancements of the film's footage helped make it feel you were within the actual places themselves.  Both the black-and-white portions of real life and the technicolor "Land of Oz" were beautiful to experience and behold in panorama of "The Sphere".  Aspects of the film always bring tears to my eyes, and this was no exception.  The visit to "The Sphere" was definitely one of the more positive highlights.   

As you know, I enjoy wordplay quite a bit.  I am titling these posts over the next few days "The Leave" to "symbolize" a multitude of things:

a.  "Leave" as in to go away, which I did for that two week spell.

b. "Leave" as in a "leaf" blowing in the wind to symbolize the travel, and its ambiguities.

c.  "Leave" as in a "leaf" of food, in this case, an eventual discussion of arugula.  

d.  "Leave" as in a pleasantly pleasing leaf of tobacco, to which of course, I have a strong fondness for. 

The above rather ornamental image is of dried/cured tobacco leaves prior to their being converted into (hopefully) some form of pipe tobacco.

More tomorrow.

PipeTobacco