Ahhhhhhhhhh… Thank You Lord….
The effects of the weather is obviously dependent upon where you live. And as you are well aware (after all of my incessant complaining) the elements here in the northeast have been as horrific as we’ve ever seen. This winter we saw a bevy of record snowfalls that brought about awful commuting conditions along with hours upon hours of shoveling the white stuff. Then it was torrential rains that delivered flooding – the kind you see every hundred years – twice within three weeks. Yes, Mother Nature has given us a prolonged bitch slapping we certainly soon won’t forget.
But no matter where you are in north America, you’re going to get your share of angry earthly activity… Heat and hurricanes in the south, tornadoes in the mid-west, arctic cold in the north, and some of you have to endure the ground shaking, as felt in southern California, just yesterday.
But something odd happened in my area on April 1. Exactly to the day on April 1st, to start the second quarter of the year, like delivered by the hand of god himself, the weather turned magnificent. It was if old Momma Nature was having her period for six months and God just told the woman to cut the crap and deliver us poor people a shot of warmth and sunshine. And damn, if it hasn’t been sensational the past five days – low 70’s, blue sky, and bright sun. Spring has truly sprung and it’s amazing how everyone has just joined the collective consciousness and started smiling again.
As always, the long awaited springtime weather brings a lot of things out from hibernation… baseball, wearing shorts, yard work, grilling, low cut tops, and seeing the neighbors once more. But most of all, us cigartophiles (yes, a made up word, but it sounds plausible) get to revel in our favorite stogies amidst the confines of the great outdoors once again. Like animals who had slept in their lairs for these past frozen months, we have risen from our slumber and now realize that it’s time to fire up freely, once again. Oh happy, happy, joy, joy.
For the past five days I have been smoking cigars like a crazed tobacco demon, savoring every ounce of smoke each stick has delivered. I’ve probably done three a day during this time, as opposed to the 1 or two a week during the winter, where I huddled up in the garage while an oscillating electric ceramic heater deliver much needed warmth to my important parts. (Some more important that others.) I had a few yard gars for the outdoor work, medium bodied gars for afternoon enjoyment, and fuller bodied sticks for post dinner happiness. You know, I think I toked a few shorties while tossing a carcass or two on the grill as well. Unfortunately – or fortunately – depending on how you perceive it, my intake of alcoholic libationary goodness 
increased as well. I must say, I’m feeling rather relaxed, and I’m being awfully kind to strangers, small animals, and even New York Yankee fans (but that will wear off very fast, I guarantee you.)
I took a trip to JR a few days ago and stocked up on five packs, as they’re not only a great deal, but enable you to try a plethora of different smokes, as opposed to investing in a full box. I picked up the following fivers: El Rey Del Mundo Olvidados Torpedos, JR Ultimate Princpales Osuro, Gurkha something or other as they makes twelve-thousand different lines, Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Pamplonas (maybe one of the best values in the cigar world today) and some jet black La Gloria Maduro toro sized beauties. I probably smoked at least two of each, along with a few other random singles I introduced to the weekend line up!
Good Lord people, I am In heaven once again! And while I admittedly have cursed Mother Nature, damning the wicked harlot to hell on several occasions during the past few months, I now praise the woman, and I thank her from sparing us all from the madness we endured for so long. I look forward to Spring, Winter, and the Fall, and I will certainly commemorate the joys of wonderful outdoor weather with the cutting, lighting, and puffing of many a premium hand-rolled happy stick delivered from a tropical climate south of our borders.
Who’s gonna join me?
Tommy Z.
JR Cigars Blog With the Zman
