The unexpected uses of tobacco...

I already spoke about the benefits of having ground coffee in the house (for more than the obvious consumption), but there is another item I always have on hand. Hidden in my sock drawer is a pack of cigarettes. 

Why? Rewind, again, to around 2002. Enjoying the summer sun, while highlighting scribbled notes for a college history exam, I spotted a stray kitten under my father-in-law's car. The later named and beloved "Spooky" created a domino effect of catastrophes as my husband, mother and father-in-law, and I tried to catch him. 

For me, it was stepping on a yellow jacket. (For those not familiar - a yellow jacket belongs to the wasp family, but is yellow and black, appearing more like a fierce bumble bee than a wasp.) In the seconds between my bare foot landing on the winged beast and actually hurting it, it managed to sting me three times. I have been stung and/or bit by many an insect, wasps, bees, and hornets included; however, non induced the pain as that trio from the yellow jacket! 

My father-in-law came to the rescue on that one - slicing open a cigarette, he wet and packed the tobacco onto the stings. Within minutes the swelling and pain decreased! (It is the nicotine in the tobacco that provides this magical result.) I kept those stings packed and taped on for much of the day.

After that visit, I bought a pack of cigarettes to have nearby, in case of future unwanted stings. To this day, it is still in its wrapping, but still - ready and waiting for the inevitable day that it will be opened and used for its unique purpose! 

(Picture from Wikimedia Commons)