Smokin'

   Smoking 

     by

      Skeet Gould

Everybody I grew up around smoked——cigarettes, pipes or cigars. Back then no dope. A lot of folks smoked and chewed at the same time. Mom and Dad both smoked, tailor mades when they had the money but they rocked their own most of the time. Everybody kinda knew smokin’ was bad for you, but the Surgeon General had not said a word yet. So, I pretty much smoked my whole life and enjoyed the hell out of tobacco. I liked Bull Durham, Prince Albert and Velvet to roll my own. I used Wheat Straw Papers to roll’em. They were harder to tear but tough to keep lit. I always carried a pocket full of kitchen matches to keep things smokin’. Old Ben Fancher said if he ever built a house he would build it out of Bull Durham ‘cause the house would be fire proof.

I was around twelve years old when I really started smokin’ and was horseback with dad a lot. We were usually on single file trails and I would be right behind him. But wherever be would see me start to roll one and wanted to try to slow me down he would hit a trot or lope. I tore a lot of papers and spilled pounds of tobacco, but eventually learned to cup the paper in the palm of my hand and roll one from there. It is a good thing that old country did not have enough grass to start a range fire ‘cause it took a lot of matches to start and keep those old, soggy things going. It’s a wonder I did not burn the world down.

I smoked ’til I was sixty-nine years old. I was having trouble breathing so decided to quit. I had quit booze and a few other bad habits——old age kinda dictated that I quit, Well, quitting tobacco was harder than anything else I quit. I’m glad I gave tobacco up so I can enjoy the clean air the corona virus has brought back.