4/23/03
My Spring Vacation
Last week Glenn and I embarked on a trip to Fla. The Tinsky clan was gathering in Sarasota for a reunion. The trip began pretty well. We both packed about 30 mins before leaving in the wee hours of the morning. One of the most important decisions I had to make was how many and what pipes to take. I generally just take one medium size leather carry bag and what ever I can fit into it and carry it on the plane. This trip, I realized , if I took the stems out I could squeeze more in also I could then pack in them in general luggage as there d be nothing to break. Good idea at the time.....
I was especially pleased that I d be doing some fishing again with my brother and I was able to break out some of my fishing pipes that had seen little use over the winter. I even packed my treasured Bonaquisti natural blast oversize 120 shape, my most favorite fishing pipe. I could hardly wait to smoke and fish....
I put Glenn in charge of the luggage. I had a back pack with my clothes and a smaller brite red dry bag with some fishing stuff and my pipes. He had a huge oversize suitcase. His method of packing was to just throw in all the clean clothes he had and hopefully it would all work out, enough underware , socks etc....
We had a normal travel day and arrived in Tampa late in the day . I went to get the rental car while he waited for the luggage. He was waiting at the curb upon my return, he threw the stuff in the car and off we drove to Sarasota !!!
First thing was dinner at the Outback. I had melt in your mouth prime rib and steamed vegetables to die for! We all headed back to the house and J and I decided on an after dinner smoke on the porch. It was 72 degrees, no wind, a perfect nite for blowing rings and catching up..... I looked around he room for the brite red bag and didn t see it, I then asked Glenn where the BRITE RED BAG was and heard the fatal words," What BRITE RED BAG?"......
As in that bag were my pipes, tobacco , cleaners, and other neccessary ecoutrements to enjoy and evening smoke.....Bereaved I went to bed.....
My mom called the airport, she s good at those things. The bag was still in Tampa and they d fly it down in the afternoon and I could pick it up. I later went to the airport, and no bag. No one knew where it was and what happened to it. I got my mom on the phone again to them and they said it would be there the next day. And lo and behold it was! So pipes in hand Jay and I set out to wade the salt water flats . Now at this point one might think all was totally well and happy. But sadly due to my zeal in packing s many pipes as I could into the leather bag I didn t have room for a couple tins of Navy Flake and meant to put them elseware, but when you pack 10 mins before you leave there will be casualties, one must expect this! Tho in retrospect I wish it hadn t been something so important, rather my tooth brush or something minor ....
The good news was that I knew of a good B & M , Bennington Tobacconist , on St Armaunds Circle. I went in wearing a blond wig so I wasn t recognizeable to the many female pipe groupies who hung out at he shop hopeing a celebrity in the Tobac biz might vacation by. I had heard a rumor while in the shop that possibly Greg Pease might be in town which I quickly dashed, and said he just had a B- Day and could now be considered too "old" . As they looked so desondent upon hearing this, I mentioned I had heard that a tall, young, dashing Italian pipemaker, with a fashionably large belly might be coming to town soon ; and they were all a twitter again as they knew who I meant....
The bad news was while they had many Mac Baren blends , there was sadly no NF or Veermeister, so I left without purchasing pipe or tobacco.
Luckily a tin of Veermeister was at the bottom of the bag tho my prefered blend is NF. I immediately called the one person I knew I could depend on to save the day. I person of the utmost integrity and moral turpitude, our own , Lloyd P Nizo. And I suggest that everyone call him for help if you go on vacation without your favorite tobacco as he went out got me three tins of NF AND a tin of Veermeister which I didn t really think I needed but in the end did need ; adding prescience to his other admirable qualities!
The NF came exactly 2 days later. In the meantime I enjoyed the Veermiester even tho I had to smoke 2 bowls a day in my dedicated Veermeister pipes as I had brought more Navy Flake pipes and violated my personal rules of pipe smoking. It s really tough being a pipe smoker on vacation sometimes....
Once the NF came cortesy of Lloyd P. I could finally take my Bonaquisti Oversize 120 Natural blast fishing pipe out to perform its magic on the salt flats. This pipe is close to 3 " tall maybe more, as Pauls pipes grow in stature over the years ( commensurate with his waistline I might add !) I hadn t smoked this pipe all Winter and knew what a treat it would be.
Perhaps a little digression is in order here. Obviously if you ve gotten this far in the story you ve got little else to do and wasting more time is of no consequence..... First of all the myth that pipe makers only sell their good stuff and keep the rejects is categorically untrue! Why be a pipe maker if you can t have the best pipes? It s kind of a secret which I m forced to disclose in order that you the reader may know how I came by this fine pipe from Paul. Every year we exchange a pipe, roughly around Christmas time so that we each own some of the finest pipes each of us has made. Perhaps one day I ll display my collection at one of the big shows and win first prize for best collection!
I m not exactly sure of the year I received my Bonaquisti Big Bent but it was sometime in the late 90 s . I have decided, for the first time, to show this beauty in public! I will also show a pix of the pipe that he got that year so one can see I m not a piker or an ingrate and hold up my end of the bargain too. ( Tho I feel , in all honesty, I got the better of the deal that year )
Of special note is the tall long sweeping shank !
I imagine this was made prior to Paul getting his logo stamp made but he thoughtfully included one just for me ! Also of note is his foresight in fitting the stem. He knew that over the years the shank and stem juncture in his pipes tends to deform and rather have this happen he left it so the pipe and stem would gradually deform together over the years. I m sure in time they will mate perfectly. Just another one the engineered features of a Bonaquisti pipe!
This picture really illustrates the fine blasting he did on the pipe! He really blasted the pipe hard to get a great relief. I think perhaps he was a little too zealous around the shank and bowl juncture as there is a blob of grey stuff that I dont think is briar at this point. But it s no matter, as the pipe has never leaked and has smoked great from day one. Also I really like the dot of red stain on the shank as I think it s symbol of the great Red Spot from Pauls home planet of Jupiter, and scortch marks left from the blasting. Some of his finest and most imaginative work certainly.....
Here is a pix of my meager exchange offering for that year. I certainly got the better deal that year !
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