Tending the Fire

(PfP) Søren Kierkegaard’s observation that “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” is as true about pipe smoking as it is about most other aspects of life. When examined in the rear-view mirror there are lessons that only experience can teach.
These elusive insights are often counter-intuitive, striking me as things that could not possibly be true. Because I couldn’t imagine how they could have been true, I summarly ruled them out as explanations for things I couldn’t understand. Looking back, I wonder how much or how often I have ruled out the truth because I couldn’t understand what was going on. A particular example concerns the relationship between tamping tobacco in the bowl and keeping a pipe lit and flavorful throughout the bowl. Continued

Photo: Kierkegaard’s pipe