"His secretary always brought the day’s mail tied in a neat bundle to his desk at 3 pm.
At the top of this day’s mailings was a small envelop, not a business envelope
but one more typical of a greeting card. His address was written in a neat, square hand
in green ink. He was tempted to break with his usual habit of postponing reading his mail
to the beginning of the next day. With a smile of anticipation on his face, he resisted,
left the ribbon binding the letters uncut, and pushed the package to the corner of his large desk.

The next morning, as he did every day, he arrived well before the rest of his staff.
Opening the door to his large office, he began his daily custom: filling a well-seasoned pipe
fashioned from antique briar with his custom blend of matured Virginia tobaccos. Fortunately,
the new rules about smoking being forbidden in the office building were not yet in effect.
Besides, no one else would arrive for at least another half an hour."

DSF_3567bw.jpg