Alec Bradley - Tempus Natural: My favorite cigar?!?

I am smoking an Alec Bradley-labeled cigar. On the label, it says, Tempus and Natural. On the back, it says live true. This is a cute little cigar. It's small, probably a diameter of about half an inch, and the wrapper is yummy.

It's the dark wrapper that I like, oily, and smells good.

I wonder if this is the same size cigar that Clint Eastwood smoked in those spaghetti Westerns? Maybe it's a little bigger. Let's see.

Photo Courtesy of CigarMonkeys.com

On top of the label. It looks like there's an armored head, a crown framed by wings. The label almost looks like a coat of arms. In the center is a white crown, with letters A and B, all in white, surrounded by a field of red.

The First Third

So in the first third, I already love it. It's delicious. It's not a light smoke, and it's not weak by any means. I already want a box of these.

This is a perfect cigar! 

Again. I'm just in the first third, I don't want to rush this, but this is perfect. The wrapper is not dry at all. It's not coming off. I lit it with a match. I think it's on its way to getting a little crooked, crookedly lit, but smoking well, so far.

I've got Jameson in hand (on ice) and it pairs nicely with the cigar.

This is delicious!

Spring is Coming

So, this is the nicest day we've had this year. High in the low 70s. The sun is out. I'm sitting on my back deck feeling the wind which is cool but not cold and listening to the birds' chirp. 

Spring is on the air. It's going to rain tomorrow, and on Saturday, the high will be 50. So, say the fortune-tellers but then I think it will start warming up again. Heading into April, we are entering spring and I've got birdseed in the bird traps, as I call them.

Yard work has begun. We laid down pre-emergent today on about a half-acre of grass. We’re testing it out to see if it works. And then maybe we'll expand to the rest of the two acres of lawn that we have (lawn that I'd rather not have). The back acre, If I had my way, I would plant it all in trees.

Okay, entering the second third

Just as good as the first. 

So for such a small diameter cigar, the label makes up for it in length. I swear this label is got to be two inches or one and three-quarter inches long.

I'll definitely have to remove it before finishing this cigar.

Live true, the label says. Live true! 

Well, this is me living true. Enjoying nature, listening to nature, feeling it on my skin, smoking a great cigar, relaxing, and drinking good spirits in good spirits.

And it's March 17th.  It’s Saint Patrick's Day. It's wonderful! 

Did I say this cigar was crookedly lit? It’s not, actually. Moving from the second third to the final and it is burning perfectly.

The Third Third

This is a wonderful smoke and would make a great gift. 

Now into the final third, I need to remove the wrappers. There are two wrappers. The main wrapper and a little band beneath it. The band says Natural, and above it on the main wrapper, Tempus.

Tempus…. Tempus Fugit ~ Time Flies!

Time waits for no man, so we need to take it. 

I read something recently on a blog about free time. It said All time is taken. There is no free time. Either you take it or it will be taken from you!

I think that’s wonderful. There is no free time. That puts the responsibility squarely on us, right? Either we take it or it’s taken from us. Either we shape the course of our lives or we react to forces in our lives. That's very interesting.

Okay, this cigar is getting more complex. Moving completely well into the final third and out of the second.

There is another level of complexity. Very nice!

Final Words

So I haven't written on Crookedly Lit for a long time now. I got caught up in a whirlwind. Life caught me up and spun me about and I've been trying to get my feet grounded again.

So yes, life spun me about.

I was forced to work away from home for a year. I came back last November. And, you know sometimes it's hard to get living again the way you want to.

But we can only do.

Sometimes, if I really want to make a change, I say change one thing and forgive myself for the rest. 

Change one thing. 

When one makes that change, when I make that change, often many other things change as well. But if you try to change the many, that's very difficult. Try and change the one or change, one, and many things change.

So yes, I'm smoking a cigar. I made a change. 

The warm weather inspires me to be outside and smoke. When it's cold, I don't like to smoke. It's not enjoyable. Smoking a cigar should be enjoyable. And for me that that requires warmer weather. I imagine I will be writing much more as the weather continues to get warmer and we move well into spring and into summer and then into fall. And as there are seasons in the year, there will also be seasons in my smoking a cigar and writing.

I’ll end here and leave you with a question. Your answer to this question will be telling, as will the lack thereof.

Have you ever put yourself into a position or done something, which has given you clarity about yourself? Have you ever put yourself out there and realized that you weren’t that badass that you thought you were? You don’t know as much as you thought you knew? 

Is that feeling a return to humility? It's probably an over-correction. We’re probably not as bad as we think we are. Maybe it’s like listening to yourself on tape and thinking you sound weird. But no one thinks you sound weird like you think you do. But it’s a correction, right?

~The Sage