Venetian proverbs never cease to amaze me. Indeed, my pipe is a half of company. It is time to drop it for good, though. Enough filling and pressing and poking and digging and emptying and banging and scraping and wiping and blowing. Enough fiddling, that is. I just cleaned my pipe for the last time and left it on a bookshelf to gather dust, just as it did until a few months ago. In a few short days my taste buds will start coming back to life. Fewer and fewer things will taste sour to me. In due time my nose will come back to life, as well. Not to mention cancer, even a single half of a bad company is bad company still. Hooray!

Addendum I (September 2, 2025)

Well, well. I returned to the bookshelf in my study a couple of weeks ago and found my old pipe covered with a thick layer of dust. To my surprise, it was cracked in two places, as well. It was obvious that it was not used for quite a few years. Having asked a good friend to bring me some pipe tobacco from one of the neighboring towns, I brought it to life once again. Ever since, I have used it every now and then the cracks notwithstanding. And I am still convinced that the Venetian proverb of old is right on the mark. For my sins, I am enjoying a half of company one more time in spite of all the fiddling. It is anyone’s guess how long this friendship will last this time around, it goes without saying, but I will do my best not to return to my pipe too often. Filling and pressing and poking and digging and emptying and banging and scraping and wiping and blowing it once or twice a week would be perfectly fine with me in my dotage. Fingers crossed, as ever.

Addendum II (February 20, 2026)

About six months later, though, I am abandoning my pipe once again. As I write, it is resting on a bookshelf in my study one more time. This time around, I will do my best not to return to it for four or five years at least. As it turned out, I went for my pipe way too often by my own standards. Annoyed by my habit, three months ago I put together a spreadsheet to control it to the best of my ability. And I would record every time I lit the pipe with utmost precision. According to my record, I had four pipes a day most days, but on occasion I went for it no less than five times. The last month or so I managed to cut it down to three pipes a day on as many as twelve days. Still, this was way too often for my taste, whence my decision to abandon this silly habit of mine for a long while. Most important to me at this stage of my life is my writing project, which I want to bring to its completion in four or five years. Having accomplished that, I may well go for my pipe for the last time. By then, I hope to smoke it once or twice a week for good. At any rate, I am more than happy with my decision. A half of company every now and then is quite a blessing, no doubt, but my health is uppermost in my mind right now. Goodness gracious, I will be eighty years old in a couple of short months!

Footnote

1. Cibotto, G.A., ed., Proverbi del Veneto, Firenze: Giunti Gruppo Editoriale, 1992 (first published in 1976), p. 96.