Heather Hawk

"OK! Wake up!" I shoved my roommate's shoulder to rouse him from sleep at two in the morning. This was one of my wake up, can't sleep, get up and do something other than shopping in the middle of the night routine.

This morning, I decided to take action regarding our last week's discussion on body building and fitness. In our third decade of life, keeping in shape, working out and building stamina required increasingly more effort. This was the perfect time for a meditative run around Greenlake without bumping into the masses.

"What are you nuts? It is freezing outside! There's ice and two inches of snow out there."

I gleefully persuaded, "Yes! The temperature will be quite invigorating, and we will use more energy shedding calories and fat. Plus we will have the track to ourselves!"
I should speak for myself, as Tom had no fat. He was lean and muscular. But also a great sport and after a few tugs he got up and drove us to the lake.
Crystally snow crackled under our running shoes. The sky revealed twinkly stars on that crisp clear night and the air was so fresh without human interference.
After half an hour of jogging, we returned to the vehicle.

With a sheepish grin, Tom admitted, "That was a great wake-up run. But I still think you are crazy."

It was the best time to run. For some reason, unknown to me, on future opportunities when I actually went as far as attempting to kick him out of bed he refused to budge.

I want to rip my tongue out. Wash my mouth out with perfume and baking soda. Scrape it with sandpaper, because rinsing and brushing with baking soda alone barely helped. The odor and taste in my mouth seeping into my nostrils and lungs is wretching. Why oh why, did I do this to myself?

It is three in the morning and I am awake. Sleep should return. Instead, I lay there barely moving trying to not think about my oral cavities. Eating a two-day old dead shark would be better than this.
A thought creeps into my mind. An idea for a story. Now I have to get up and write before the ideas are forgotten.

Last evening's after dinner cocktail hour was a delightful experience. The cruise ship's bartender was attentive, offering and suggesting a variety of new cocktails of his own mixtures and tinctures. The elderly gentleman sitting to my left at the bar was smoking a cuban cigar exuding a pleasant and sensuous leather, spice, and leafy fragrance. We spent unclocked time to discuss our travels, and described our favorite cruise ships. The conversation turned to cigars as I recalled having smoked cigarillos in my early 20s and a short stint with chewing tobacco.
I was enticed to try a smoke again. The bartender offered a selection of thin cigars with a pairing of Madeira.
The combined flavors were...O-a-h-h! Soothing, delightful, creamy, sensuous. It was everything connecting my presence, body and soul with a soft flight, unearthly light feeling floating on cloud 9.
The evening was so enjoyable, before I realized the hours gone by, we ended the evening around one in the morning.
I should have left the last third of the smoke extinguish peacefully in the ashtray.
Recently I have learned that lower quality smokes will usually result in the bad after taste that I experienced. But to be safe, after smoking a cigar one should cleanse the palate with citrus, especially lemon to soften and reduce or elliminate any objectionable odors.

With that caveat the experience of pairing cigar and Madeira is worth a second try.