But None To Drink: July 2008

^^^this is the best souvenir ever,
my favorite new 'possession,' per se

still coming across too many great photos from the months i spent away at Pilchuck Glass School...being completely immersed in a place for all that it's worth is quite beautiful in retrospect,
every moment.

the happiest i have felt in a long time, so happy, i fear that nothing could ever be this good again, so should i just end it all?
kidding!
but hopefully you've enjoyed a high that high (figuratively).
(or literally. whatever floats yer boat!)

pomegranate pucker

stop the car. it's just too beautiful!!

i wish i could brush my teeth right here every morning, wash my face in that cold cold river that had me speaking in tongues once i got ankle deep. glacial.

and suddenly time stopped (!)
and the flow just began
ebbing waxing waning
and you and i, we sat together in a room
until we picked eachother apart
until we weren't perfect
and we acted upon us
with pure conscience and form
but you have to look yourself in the eye when it's a mirror
after all.

i haven't been right since i got back...i feel like i must record this experience before i can move into the present; like 9 weeks changed my life.

but then i laugh at myself because i'm one of those people now, one of those people who's all summer camp changed my life. how melodramatic.
hee!
...
i love these guys.

ah yes. so my work at pilchuck glass school was not always glamorous, but it was always entertaining.
i was the kitchen coordinator for presession and sessions 1 and 2.

i had hooligans to contend with...of this you can be sure.

...

plus i had to corral coffee cups and order supplies. there were some early mornings. and some mornings when i would show up to this...

it was a great job and i truly enjoyed the fringe benefits, which included not only comraderie, but having some of the most amazing glassblowers around finally Finally help me pull my first gather out of the furnace. i wanted to do this for so long.
pretty soon i was ladling it out, and blowing glass like i knew something about it...it was good.
refreshing even,
to be a beginner at something
in a world where we take pride in our expertise.

...

^^^
this is jackie.
she is partially to blame for teaching me how to blow glass. she was the most supportive and least bored of all of the people i worked with. i felt like we were both grasping at these concepts and getting them.
she kept reminding me of the steps when i got frustrated and since she's all cute and the baker (her desserts are amazing) pretty much everyone wanted to please her.
so we got lots of free glassblowing lessons!
people were so free with their knowledge, and so willing to give us demonstrations.
i want to thank too many people, especially jackie, lisa, matt, meredith, carrie, lee, nick, ratama, adam, tim, brad, danny, laura, thom, joey, alex, jenny, courtney, geez this list goes on and on.
and it's not like i won some award.
just this.

oh how i miss glass tv

my birthday was different, it was.

yes i traded in sunny hawaii for this.
but how awesome are these volunteers for helping me enjoy a night off!

not to mention my new best friends baked me a gourmet cake from scratch! the night before was when they did this, which coincided with the night i thought no one liked me.
matt, lisa, and joey: man you kids made me feel special!
that's ok i got to visit billy morris's barn and enjoyed great art while they slaved away over that hot stove.

we had so many special celebrations!
there was a stellar staff christmas party...

auction party #1 theme was what was it...
treehuggers, bugs, and boyscouts.
let's put it this way...i wasn't the only one with DE-merit badges...people tend towards the crazy at these parties
showing up naked, etc.
we kept our clothes on.

and again during session 2, auction party baby!
this time, the theme was bedazzled in prison: the musical

lisa and i found matching denim jumpsuits!

the crowd went wild (or at least that's what i tell myself :))

not to mention all the average nights that made me fall into serious sleep debt because of FOMO.
but it's true! anytime i went to bed early, i missed out on so much!

so i learned to stay up, yes i know. i can sleep when i'm dead.

not to mention the day trips

...

saturdays were for me and lisa. we went on adventures all around.

sometimes the driver needed assistance on his errands. we were there for him. someone to navigate, see.

^^^beth!
came to visit, all the way from PA! we worked together last year at penland. that was an awesome surprise. we hung out on the hammock at the pond shack before we embarked on a four leaf clover hunt at inspiration point.
fruitless.
but earlier in my stay, i found four four leaf clovers in one day, 3 of which were all one plant with several three leaf clovers as well.
crazy!