The Brotherhood of the Leaf

Posted By The Cigar Soldier on July 21, 2011

Wow, it’s been a warm one this week!   The dork in the schleppy suit standing in front of the big weather map with all his fancy storm tracking equipment just told me that our region has not experienced a heat wave this severe since 1995.  It’s what they’re calling a “heat dome” that has become stagnant over the mid-west pushing our daily temps into the high 90’s with a heat index of 100 plus.  Gosh, that’s warm.  Hey sissy’s, it’s gonna be 35 below in less than 4 months so suck it up and have another bottle of water.

I can’t control the weather anymore than I can control how fast a Taco Bell lunch runs through my system, so bitching about this heat seems useless.  That doesn’t mean it doesn’t completely suck because now I can’t even tolerate enjoying a cigar out doors in the late evening because my thermometer still is registering a bone chilling 98 degrees.  The only thing worse than being 98 degrees would be seeing 98 Degrees!  Arghhhh!  Remember the God-awful boy band craze that brought us such super power groups such as: New Kids on the Block, N’ Sync, The Backstreet Boys, Boys II Men, 98 Degrees, O-Town and Alvin and the Chipmunks? Yeah, me neither.  Wisconsin, like much of the Mid-west, only has a handful of good months to enjoy the great outdoors so we try extremely hard to cram in as much fun in the sun good times as we can before the snow starts flying.  It’s always too hot or cold here!  Hey, you know where you can always smoke a cigar in perfect weather conditions?  San Diego.  Oh yeah, your local cigar lounge also!  Go support your B&M stores and become a member if need be to keep those places open so that regardless of what mother nature tosses your way, there will always be a safe comfortable hideout to puff away.

Thanks to the social media sites, I’ve been reading about all the new cigars being unveiled this year at the IPCPR show in Vegas.  I’ll admit it’s been tough keeping up with all the posts and pictures from so many of my cigar maniac friends who made the trip as either guest or exhibitor at this years show.  I took away two very important facts from their Facebook updates and Tweets. The first is that right now it’s a great time to be a cigar smoker.  The vast new array of products and cigar lines hitting the market are giving consumers more choices then ever in quality sticks.  Unlike the boom years, today’s cigar smoker is much more educated and well informed than in the past so manufactures who push junk will be out of business in no time.  This means a unbelievable variety and quality for us to pick from.  The second item you may ask?  With all the reports from the quit smoking campaigns on how successful the are, cigar smokers are still enjoying their hobby.

Many of my previous posts have ripped the anti-smoking crowds never ending push to protect us from ourselves but it appears that we as a collective group have decided that, in moderation, quality cigars are a damn good thing.  I have to believe that all of you are aware that in fact there are some dangers to your health if you smoke in excess or inhale while smoking.  What I also believe is that as adults who choose to enjoy a still legal product we manage that risk  by using said product in moderation.  That’s doctor speak for we try to take precautions with our cigar smoking.  All things are poison and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing not poison.  And only Bret Michaels and CC Devill make poison Poison.  Cigar manufacturers would not be blending new recipes and introducing new lines if their consumers did not want them.  As cigar smokers we are clamoring for new and innovative cigars made with rare or exotic tobaccos blended in new and exciting ways to fit out tastes or style. Like I said, it’s a good time to be a cigar smoker.

The never ending battle against the anti smoking movement still rages on but we’re slowly seeing some victories across the country as more and more politicians are seeing the light that all encompassing smoking bans are not working in real life as they do on paper.  Those of you that are members of or follow the CRA know that with every victory we face another defeat but yet we keep pushing forward.  It appears that today’s cigar connoisseur is more educated about their cigars which typically means many more of them are better educated about the industry and the uphill battle cigar manufactures face getting out thier products.  This new breed of cigar smoker demands quality products and is picking up the sword to fight for those products.  That’s why in the face of all the negative publicity and false statistics we’re still reaching for our lighter and cutter at the end of the day to enjoy the relaxation and camaraderie that only cigars can offer.  It’s all good my Brothers.

Have a great weekend and stay cool my friends.

The Cigar Soldier

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