In continuing with the philosophical bent of this blog, I’d like to discuss the practice of indefinitely saving a cigar for a “special occasion”. Fundamentally, there’s nothing wrong with hanging on to that Padron 80th Anniversary Perfecto until your wedding day (or your divorce is finalized, as the case may be). In this perfectly ordinary example, you’re deciding to reserve a very special cigar for a very special day. What I’m talking about is when we surrender our free-will and reason and let the cigar decide for us when it will be smoked. Sure, such solid-citizens of the walk-in as Opus, Padron 64s and 26s, and Anejos demand special attention along with their special price; but it’ll do you no good to horde them in the dark recesses of your humidor, Smeagol. All across the country theres a gentrification going on in the humidors, coolerdors, and tupperdors of cigardom. We continue to covet and horde high-end cigars, arranging them carefully for “aging” like Ebenezer Scrooge (or Scrooge McDuck, if you like) counting his money. Have you ever thought to yourself “I have nothing to smoke” as you looked at a neatly stacked humidor full of your favorite special occasion cigar? That’s a horrible feeling that no one needs to impose upon themselves. Break glass in case of emergency, my man! Get in there, and smoke those masterpieces of agriculture and craftsmanship. That proverbial bus may just be turning a fatal corner as you step out onto the street, arms stretched out wide, taking in the crisp morning air and maternally warming sunshine. “Today is the first day of the rest of my life!”, you giggle, teeth clenched gingerly around a “Name Brand” Factory Second Torpedo (the twenty-seventh of a bundle of fifty you won on Cbid twenty-seven days ago). You turn your collar up and cock your head against the direction of the jasmine-scented morning breeze. Left hand shielding the shaggy foot of your ninety-three cent “dog-walker”, right hand greedily clenching your source of fire like the first caveman running bare-assed from a lightning strike in the forest; and just as you “flick your bic” WHAMMMO!!! 80,000lbs of Greyhound bus changes the course of your day.

  Hyperbole, you say? Maybe so. But that does nothing to allay the unpredictable nature of life. On a more serious note; in places like Tel Aviv, where the unpredictability of daily life is a cold fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find many collectors of fine wine or cigars. There’s an immediacy that has become part of the culture of such places, and with it comes the wisdom to enjoy what you can, when you can. On a cool Tuesday morning seven years ago-today, a terrible tragedy occurred that brought this idea to the forefront of our collective consciousness as Americans. In the intervening time, we’ve hopefully learned how to appreciate what we have. So in the spirit of living life in the “now”, as you find it, I say fire up a cigar that you’ve been saving for some unknown event, and in doing so transform now into a special occasion.