February 20th is International Pipe-Smoking Day–
but you knew that already.

I celebrated by smoking a generous bowl of “Shipwreck Blend” from this fine tobacconist in Minneapolis, a gift from my brother.

After lighting up, I swam away from the ruined vessel as it broke apart on the reef, borne on currents of joyful desperation for over 40 minutes while, once again, my most noble ideals vanished into thin air around me.
Luckily, the bowl was well packed and the pounding surf was not able to separate me from my lifeline, which smoldered on in the midst of the cataclysm. This was fortuitous, since I had only two matches and a third re-light could have meant a watery grave…

Poetry by J.S Bach and Old Skool Gangsta rap from Ralph Erskine helped me to focus and persevere as I floated to safety.

What did you do on this auspicious evening of global brotherhood and kapnismology?