Mango Bite #3: Pipe Smoking. Ritual Over Rush.

For the month of December, The Mango Times podcast is taking a breather while I gear up for Season 6. In the meantime, I’m sharing weekly Mango Bites — small, meaningful moments pulled from the early days of the show.

So… what if the draw isn’t the nicotine, but the quiet?

In this focused Mango Bite, I revisit pipe smoking as a deliberate ritual, not a race to the bottom of a pack. Instead of inhaling deep and dosing often, I talk about keeping the smoke in the mouth, savoring the flavor, and using the ember as a metronome for reflection.

More importantly, I open up about the real “pull”: the calm that comes from packing a bowl, tending the light, and letting thoughts settle. You’ll hear the arc from image to acceptance — early curiosity, parenting realities, then a steady rhythm my family understands — along with a few nostalgic nods to classic “cool smoke” ads that once promised comfort in a storm.

If you’ve ever wondered why some people pair a pipe with a book, a porch conversation, or a quiet morning, this episode offers a brief window into that world of unhurried attention. And if the idea of a mindful ritual resonates, I hope you’ll leave with practical insight on creating space, setting a pace, and choosing tools that help you be present on purpose.

Want the full story and more detail? Follow the link in the notes to hear the complete original conversation. Then subscribe, share this with a friend who could use a slower evening, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

⸻
Guest Information
No guests on this episode.

Resources and Links
Season 3, Episode 17: Pipe Smoking: Contemplation in Smoke

Music used in this episode:
All music in this episode is licensed for use through Epidemic Sound.

⸻
IF YOU LIKE WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE AT THE MANGO TIMES, PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW BY...
✅ Send me a text and let me know what you think.
✅ Share this episode with a friend RIGHT NOW!
✅ PLEASE LEAVE ME A REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS HERE.
✅ Buy Me A Taco (LINK HERE)

Chapters

• 0:04 Introduction
• 0:53 Mango Bite Pipe Smoking
• 1:32 Health Framing And Inhalation
• 2:35 Ritual, Pace, And Contemplation
• 4:03 Family Acceptance And Daily Rhythm
• 5:50 Full Episode Link And January Plans
• 6:10 Listener Submissions And Sign‑Off

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:04

Hey, it's Fletch, and here we are in the middle of December, and we have made it to Mango Bite Number Three. That's right, don't forget I'm taking the month of December off, so I've just put together several quick weekly episodes that we're calling them mango bites. This episode comes from season three, episode 17. It was called Pipe Smoking: Contemplation in Smoke. This was the episode where I introduced my listeners to the concept of pipe smoking, a little bit of how I got into it, and why pipe smoking is drastically different than smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco. So here is just a snippet of that conversation from season three, episode 17, Pipe Smoking Contemplation in Smoke.

SPEAKER_01: 0:56

Outside, the sea throws you an angry coming home party. But below, there's comfort. Introducing new Royal Comfort Pipe Tobacco. Now you can take comfort in knowing there's a good tasting aromatic pipe tobacco, specially blended to smoke cool, to always satisfy. Pipe after pipe after pipe. New royal comfort. If it's a cool smoke you seek, take comfort.

SPEAKER_00: 1:31

And as the storm is thrashing, he's down inside the boat smoking his pipe. So, tobacco smoking and health. Well, here are a couple thoughts on that. I'm not going to give you any scientific papers. I'm just going to say that one of the things that makes cigarette smoking so harmful to you is that you inhale it all the way deep into your lungs and then you exhale it back out through your lungs. And so lung cancer, heart disease, those are all part of smoking cigarettes. The other thing is the nicotine content in cigarettes, cigarette smokers become addicted. So you'll see them smoking packs per day. The interesting thing about pipe smoking is twice. One is you don't inhale it into your lungs. You just kind of roll it around your mouth and blow it out, and people say, Well, what good is that? Well, there's a flavor, there's an aroma. And we'll get more to the truth behind the pipe smoking in just a second. But the second part of it is the nicotine content is so low that I've never met an addicted pipe smoker. Now, I've met people who are addicted to pipe smoking, but not to the tobacco. Now let me get into that. Part of why I enjoy smoking a pipe, and part of the health benefit, I think, is that you don't smoke a pipe in a rush. You're not smoking through a pack of cigarettes, you're not throwing smoking through a cigarette. You're enjoying it, you're savoring it, like you would a glass of scotch or whiskey. You're not guzzling it down, you're sipping it. And like a pipe, you just sit there and slowly puff. There's a lot of contemplation, a lot of meditation that goes with pipe smoking. I've rarely met a pipe smoker that's rushed and rushing around when they're smoking their pipe. So the addiction doesn't come to the nicotine, it doesn't come to the tobacco, it comes to the slowing down. I'm addicted to my pipe because I like to calm down. Some people read. My wife loves to knit. I love to sit and quietly smoke a pipe and puff on it for a half hour, 45 minutes at the end of my day. Is my blood pressure going up? No, it's going down. Is my addiction level going up to tobacco? There isn't one. You know, when I've when I've gotten sick over the years, I've given up pipe smoking for weeks at a time. You know, I gave it up for 20 years easily. I walk away any day. And I and that's not like anybody that says, oh, I walk away from addiction. Literally, you can walk away from pipe smoking. You know, it's just that easy. And what's hard to give up for me is the contemplation. So, you know, I I like all those archetypes. I like sitting in front of my Bible or in front of a book reading with my pipe. I love sitting with friends out on the back porch with my pipe. I love fishing with a pipe in my mouth and taking a pause in between casts every once in a while and just smoking my pipe. I love the image. I love the feeling that that provides. And there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, if that's what the addiction is, well, that's fantastic. So pipe smoking for me over the years has gone from I just want to get into it. I think all English majors should smoke a pipe, to, oh, I probably shouldn't do this in front of my kids, to finally just an acceptance. And even for my kids that, hey, dad smokes a pipe. It's something he does in the evening. It's something he does in the morning when he gets up. Matter of fact, during this podcast, I've been smoking my pipe. I'll talk more in future episodes about things I love about it, but that's just my introduction to pipe smoking and and how I got involved and why I do it. And I hope you like it. Hope if you're encouraged, if you're like, well, I want to know more about pipe smoking, let me know. I'm glad you were here. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope it gave you a peek into the life of pipe smoking. And I will talk to you again next time.

SPEAKER_02: 5:07

Sir Walter Raleigh, the brand of Grand Aroma. Smells grand, that's right. Smoke sweet. Can't bite keeps fresh. Keeps 44% pressure.

SPEAKER_00: 5:25

All right, there you go. Mango bite number three, all about pipe smoking. Now, I hope I piqued your interest. And if you're interested in listening to the whole episode, there's a link to it in the show notes, or you can just scroll down your podcast app and find the full episode that you can listen to. Hey, I hope you're enjoying these mango bites. I think they're kind of fun to throw out little bits here once a week. In January, we get back to regular programming where we are going to talk about midlife adventures. I have several guests lined up, but I'm always looking for your suggestions. So if you have someone who has taken on a midlife adventure or has made a midlife shift, a career shift, I would love to hear about it and talk to them. You can reach out to me by scrolling down your app and just hit the button that says send Fletch a text, or you can go to themangotimes.com and hit the let's connect button. I would love to hear from you. In the meantime, I will be back next week, so don't forget to get out there and quietly make some noise.