The Cigar Life

 Monday, December 15, 2025 Poured some gin and smoked a couple cigars in my upstairs cigar lounge. 

Wednesday, December 27, 2023 Cooler today than on Christmas Eve but that didn't stop me from heading out to light up not one, but...                       ...two cigars. The first was a Romeo y Julieta... ... and the second was a Macanudo. The second and third cigars, so far, of the Christmas Season.  Had a little booze with my cigar outside. Then a little more when I came back inside.  Thirty-four degrees but didn't feel too bad in the daylight. The sun even came out for a little bit.  Listed to some music too.   It's been perfect leather weather in December.  It's been great... ..for smoking cigars... ...and drinking some hard liqour. I've really been enjoying Christmas Break. 

Saturday, February 18, 2023 Thank God it's the weekend. What a week. It was Valentine's Day on Tuesday and some of the kids passed out Valentine's. I don't know why emotions run so high. They're only pieces of paper. Anyway, it's nice to have the time to relax and I have Monday off.  And Samara Joy helps makes things even better. 

Sunday, February 12, 2023 Pleasantly warmish day with moments of brilliant sunshine which made it perfect for a cigar.  Partly cloudy but the temperature is right. A little gin. And some music.  For anybody from most anyplace other than Minnesota you might find it odd, even incomprehensible, to be hearing about temperatures in the 30s or 40s (or even 50s or 60s) as warm. If the normally extreme low of your climate is in the 30s and 40s, then yes, it would be weird. But if your extreme temperatures are below zero as ours are then 30s and 40s do NOT feel cold especially if you are in proper outerwear, in direct sunlight, and not in the wind. It can feel even warmer if there's a sudden shift within a day or two from below zero to anything "warmer" than that.  Besides, we know how to layer.

Saturday, February 11, 2023 Another great day for a cigar in the garage.   It's nice to have light after 5 p.m. Had some rum with my cigar; Plantation to be specific.  Listened to Samara Joy. Finished up my cigar as it was getting dimmer.  I went inside for cocktail hour and had a martini. Dale had some wine. And listened to some more Samara Joy. Glad to hear she won a Grammy recently.  Had the junk truck come pick up our living room sofa and chair earlier today. Thankfully we have a couple of other chairs to sit on as the new couch and chair won't be delivered until this Monday.  Nice day.

Saturday, October 8, 2022 Mike and Charisse had us over to their place for dinner tonight. I brought over and Oliva cigar for Mike.  Mike and I knew each other back in Jr. High and High School but we became friends that actually hang out together about 12 years ago. Mike and I are Facebook friends and he saw a picture of Dale on my page. Mike introduced himself to Dale when he recognized him at a spin class the both took back in about 2010. When Dale told me about it I told him that Mike would actually be fun to have over for dinner. Dale worked it out and the rest is history. We've been cigar buddies ever since. Used the second of my 4 1-day drinking passes for semi-sober October. I had a couple of Beefeater gin martinis.  After a very nice cocktail hour we had burritos for dinner. They were delicious and I should have asked Charisse for the recipe. 

Wednesday, July 13, 2022 Just bought a tin of maduro Romeo y Julietas. I rather like 'em.  Took in the backyard.  Had a cocktail. Listened to some old favorites. Still just trying to relax after an extremely stressful 2 1/2 years. 

Saturday, July 3, 2022 Smoked a Romeo y Julieta this afternoon and although I've smoked a number of these before and like them, this one, for some reason was a little bitter for my taste. It was passable but not my best experience with this brand. Had a nice Zoom call with Mom, Dale, Sam and his family. We had a really great conversation about some family history that's come out of the genealogy work I've been doing recently. I think it was interesting and meaningful for everyone which completely delights me. I'm hoping knowing and talking about our shared history will bring all of us closer together.  I'm still reminiscing about cigars during the summer of 1982 and some of the music I was listening to at the time. I remember the first time I heard "Gloria" by Laura Branigan. I had my Sony Walkman (the one Dad had given me about a month earlier during my 10-day stay in the hospital as I recovered from a bicycle accident) radio on as I was finishing mowing ...