I received an email a couple days ago from a friend I haven't seen in six or seven years. We both come from a small town in Indiana, population 5,000, and met in sixth grade. We were friends in high school, and even though we attended different colleges made time to visit one another from time to time. Recently he mentioned that he was going to be in Myrtle Beach for business and hoped to meet up. Yesterday afternoon, after picking up my wife from work and running home to change, we drove to his hotel and then to a nice restaurant for a four-hour dinner with drinks and stories. We discussed his life in Chicago, and talked of the various things guys we went to school with, who are now thirty-years-old, do for a living. Other topics included our ten-year high school reunion (which I couldn't attend), some girls from our graduating class that have gotten cuter with age, those that did not; those that are now married with four kids, and the jocks that are sadly exactly the same as they were. He began to tell stories about parties held at my fraternity house, to which my wife laughed until she nearly cried. I wanted to say they weren't true, but don't remember each occasion (I expect this is at least in part why they must have been good stories).

We talked about his career, and he asked how the pipe business was going. It was fun filling an old friend in on various pipe shows and what I've been doing since we last met. He told us about being recently married, going to Hawaii, and what it’s like to live in Chicago. My wife and I talked about getting married in Russia and the other places we’ve traveled over the years. Without fail, he and I often returned to discussing what we missed about our little town in Indiana. Sure, we would both be bored as hell if stuck there for more than three days, but there’s a lot of regional charm, food, and old haunts that stick with each of us to this day. After dinner we sat outside the restaurant, overlooking the water and drinking a couple beers; me smoking my pipe and him enjoying a cigar from my humidor. My wife never seemed to tire from the embarrassing memories. Few things can be as good as sitting with my lovely wife and an old friend, sharing stories and reminiscing about the old days in our hometown 900 miles away, while puffing on a pipe until late into the evening. So much has changed, but some things remain the same. I hope we don't have to wait as long the next time to catch up.

Tonight we have some great new pipes from J.Alan, Tom Eltang, and Lasse Skovgaard. Ashton, L'Anatra, Randy Wiley, Kevin Arthur, Winslow, Nording, Savinelli, Peterson, and Stanwell each boast choice offerings as well. Completing the update are five-dozen briars which can be found in the estate section.

Adam Davidson: Quality Control & Pipe Inspector