That was then ...

... This is now. Then being 1839, the year slaves aboard the Amistad rebelled and took control of the ship; the year Michael Faraday clarified the true nature of electricity; the year Charles Goodyear vulcanized rubber; and the year Louis Daguerre brought the world the first publicly announced photographic process. It also is the year a North Carolina farmhand accidentally discovered "bright leaf tobacco." Which brings us to the now.

U.S. Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Inc., launched its 1839 line of cigarettes in 2007. According to the company's website, here's the story behind the name:

Why the name 1839? In the year 1839, a farmhand in Caswell County, North Carolina accidentally discovered what was called "bright leaf tobacco" through a process that imparted a distinctive golden color and mild flavor and aroma to the tobacco but left a residual charcoal taste. After the Civil War, U. S. growers standardized the use of flues in their barns to remove the charcoal taste and called the result "flue-cured tobacco". Today, the tradition lives on in our new tobacco products' brand name 1839.

So, you're wondering why I, an avowed anti-tobaccist, am giving a history lesson on a smoking product. Well, today's treasure trove started with a single Titleist 4 golf ball found in the gutter along Sandburg Drive. I would have been content with that. After all, a golf ball is theoretically a useful item (I could give it to a golfer I know) and it's better than coming home empty-handed again. But a a quarter mile later, as I looked for that pile of black socks I've seen twice before (had a bag along just in case) I spot yet another pack of smokes on the ground. But this one is different: There are smokes sticking out of it; in fact, it's nearly full.

The pack of 1839 cigars is noteworthy simply because every other cigarette pack I've seen has been empty. It's hard to draw a conclusion here, though. Maybe these cigars suck. Maybe the smoker suddenly decided to kick the habit. Maybe they fell out of his or her pocket. Maybe an infuriated friend/lover grabbed the pack and pitched it out the car window. It doesn't really matter. It's 19 fewer cancer sticks out there killing someone. I feel like I've saved a life. OK, not really.

My 1969 Robin Hood 3-speed with transplanted Huffy
Santa Fe chain guard. Now time for a new saddle.

The real "find" of the day, however, is the gold 1969 Robin Hood bicycle I picked up on Seminary Street. OK, so it wasn't really a found item. It's my bike (one of a growing stable), which was at Dad's for a little work. Thanks to Dad's creative tinkering, a gift inherited from his late father, king of the creative tinkers, my old English 3-speed again has a chain guard to protect my pants (should they be called pants guards, then?). Thanks, Dad!

Today's stats

Temp: 27 degrees F

Distance: 4.5 miles

Weekly Total: 13.5 miles

Treasure: 1 Titleist 4 golf ball, 1 pack 1839 cigars (nearly full), 1 Robin Hood bike by Raleigh (reclaimed).

iPod Playlist (shuffle)

In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

I Me Mine - The Beatles

Breaking Us In Two - Joe Jackson

Don't Ask Me Why - Billy Joel

Leave - Matchbox Twenty

Scenes From An Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel

Kody - Matchbox Twenty

Love You 'Til The End - The Pogues

Tell Her About It - Billy Joel

Dig It - The Beatles

Why Georgia (Live) - John Mayer