Cigar Weather

How nice is it that summer is finally behind us? I know that you folks who live in the cold states just love you some summertime weather. But out here in the desert, it pretty much sucks. Not that it makes me miserable or I can't handle the heat--hell, I've spent the better part of the last 15 years living in the desert--but out of the four seasons, summer is my least favorite, and autumn is far and away the best, as far as I'm concerned.

Lately, it's been in the eighties during the day, and with no humidity and a slight breeze, well, you just can't ask for much more. And at night, it cools down into the low seventies, putting a chill into us thin-blooded desert dwellers and forcing us to sleep under the covers. I love it.

And on these temperate evenings, with a clear sky and the lights of this fabulous city seen from a distance, there is no better way to enjoy life than to relax outside in the back yard with an adult beverage and a fine cigar. It's even better than free porn during preview weekend on Cinemax!

Truly, I can think of no better way to clear the mind, lower the blood pressure, and decompress than enjoying the simple pleasures of fine tobacco and premium rum. If only we had lightning bugs out here in Nevada--it would be perfect. That's one thing I really miss about living down South, having no lightning bugs and crickets setting the early evening ambiance.

I gave the humidor a 'tune-up' last week, cleaning out the tobacco scraps that have fallen from a few stray unwrapped cigars, conditioning the cedar lining with a distilled-water rubdown, and soaking the humidifying element in distilled water for several hours to make sure than it couldn't harden up and would work like it was supposed to. And I took a little inventory while I was poking around in there, and it seems that I may be running a tad low on Black Labels. I should probably buy another box, but that'll have to wait until sometime next month.

In the meantime, I've started reading And A Bottle of Rum--The History of the New World in Ten Cocktails. I'm only about fifty pages into it, but enjoying it thoroughly. It's definitely my kind of book, or from the author's point of view, I'm definitely part of the audience he was looking for. Learning a bit of history is always interesting to me, but seeing it through the prism of a rum bottle is especially enjoyable.

That's about all for now. It's my day off, and I'm going to spend it doing the usual chores. If I feel particularly inspired, I'll sit down at the keyboard again later this afternoon. But right now, I just want some toast with peanut butter.

Mikey