We pipe smokers tend to be a sentimental bunch when it comes to our favorite fire-pot. And why shouldn't we be? As a breed, we love pipes, but there is always that one pipe, call it our one true love, that we gush and dote over, whether it's a simple sandblasted classic that spends much of its life in our jacket pocket, or a rarefied freehand that we've enthroned as the centerpiece of a collection. Maybe some of us even carry around photos in our mobile phones, posed sensually in the most alluring light, only to be revealed to similarly smitten souls with a wink and a nod.

Given that Valentine's Day is precisely a week away, we've decided it would only be appropriate to shower the one you adore, that bent Apple of your eye, with affectations and appreciations... in the form of a love letter. And so it is here that I ask you to join us this week in this (admittedly, deliberately silly) exercise of adulation, be it in the form of prose or poetry, by posting to our SmokingPipes.com Facebook page. I'll get us started:

"When first we met, you were a jilted and battered lover. Still, I could see past the scars of your last affair and know that you once were, and still are, beautiful. You've graced this spinning blue marble of a world the better part of two decades longer than I, yet your elegance and countenance seem unbound by time. And your smooth draw... well that's just a slice of heaven."

"Recently I've been spending time with another, as you may know. Like you, she is partial to rich red dress (you know this is my weakness). But do not despair my dear, for though she is younger, sleeker, and more curvaceous, she can't compare to the way you spark and smolder; the pleasure I find in her company is but merely platonic, and no more. With your classic beauty and sultry British accent I am compelled to always keep you faithfully by my side."

Ah, enough from me, for now. It's only making me crave my next bowl. If you be a soul as yet without a mate, however, we do just happen to be the internet's premiere pipe dating service. Featuring 2500+ briar, meerschaum, clay, and cob pipes to choose from in all shapes, sizes, and nationalities, you're sure to find something to love. Why just today, we've at the ready two hundred more new applicants, each with profiles featuring honest, and often quite revealing photographs [snicker], sure to set your heart a-flutter, from the likes of J&J, Ashton, L'Anatra, Nording, Savinelli, Peterson and Brigham. And if you don't mind someone with maybe a little baggage, maybe a little more mature and worldly, we've plenty estate pipes from all around the globe as well.

 John Sutherland: Marketing Mngr and Sr. Photographer