On Thursday, 18 July…we entered our 6th day of vacation and the 2nd day in Belgium. We’re in Belgium to visit my wife’s family (father, sister and nieces/nephew etc.). My father-in-law is in his 80’s and can’t take care of his yard any longer. So I did what any good son-in-law would do and cut his grass.
I’ve been cutting grass since I was in my pre-teen years. This was one of my teenage jobs which I maintained about 3-4 yards and cleaned some swimming pools between my jr. high and high school age years. There’s really no telling how many miles of grass I’ve cut. However, while I’ve cut grass using push mowers, self-propelled mowers, small garden tractors and even larger tractors for mowing grass/hay etc. But this was the first time in my almost 53 years that I ever cut grass with an electric lawn mower.
After the grass chores were completed, my wife and I enjoyed a short walk to a nearby cafe for a coffee. I enjoyed a pipe of some Mac Baren Vanilla Creme Flake while enjoying the cool weather. Things are due to heat up later this week. For my readers who are not familiar. Most homes in Europe (including UK) don’t have air conditioning. In all honesty, it’s really not needed as the number of days where the temps break the upper 80’s and 90’s are rare. But when they do, it can be miserable.
My father-in-law smokes Schippers brand pipe tobacco. I tried a bowl and enjoyed it. I really don’t know much about it. I got a chocolate/nutty taste with it, but it burned well. As my father-in-law can’t get out, I went down to the local newsagent and purchased him a half dozen packs. So between what he had on hand, what I purchased along with the two tins of Lane 1-Q, he’s set for a few weeks of pipe smoking enjoyment.
For the next few days we’re visiting family and friends in Belgium. We depart for England via the Eurostar on Sunday and will head back to Tunbridge Wells. While this vacation has not been everything we planned, we’re making the best of it every where we can.
Until next time…
Happy Piping!!!
Jerry
