Interesting Weekend

We were watching TV last night and just chilling before it was time to go to bed when Neighbor called. "Whatcha doing?" he asked. "You wanna come over?" "Sure!" I told him. He just had surgery on Wednesday for a deviated septum (he calls it his 'nose job') and we'd been worried about him. He lives alone now, and surgery is no fun for anyone, especially if you are alone. I think he wanted us to know and see for ourselves that he was OK.

So we hauled ourselves off the couch, turned off the TV, and headed next door. I brought him a container of my homemade "cabbage-shittake mushroom-fresh oregano" soup. Fresh oregano is great for the sinuses.

Neighbor was in great spirits - he'd been prescribed some oxycodone for pain, but hadn't taken any, and was very proud of the fact. We were pleased to see that he wasn't in any terrible discomfort, and was actually looking pretty good for someone who had just had surgery. It was a good visit. We laughed and talked and while we were there, another friend came by to check on him as well.

We were about to head out the door when Neighbor handed us a small box of Cuban cigars.

Now, we have been known to smoke cigars, but we don't make it a habit and we're not particularly fond of high-grade Cubans. We're more into the "Jamaican-honeys" and Vanilla-flavored things. But how could we pass up the precious gift of genuine Cubans in exchange for an hour of friendship and some lowly, homemade cabbage soup?

We gracefully accepted the cigars - to refuse them would have been awkward. So now we are in the possession of five 'illegal' Cubans, "Limited Edition 2008", sealed in a wood-and-glass box marked "Hecho in Cuba". I think they're genuine. I also feel like the FBI may be knocking at our door, somehow knowing that we possess 'contraband'.

We have a chimenea on the patio behind the house. I may light a little fire and tell the Neighbor that we enjoyed 'smoking' the Cuban cigars...