Tripping Part 1

We got home late last night. Okay, about six, but it felt later than it was. I don't know why, but the drive home always feels longer than the drive out. (Actually, I do know why. Duh. It didn't help that my boss found me on my cell phone, just as we were hitting the far edge of town, did it?)

Ah, but the trip! My first real adventure since I began this quest. Yes, I have taken risks. Yes, I have had fun. But to take an actual week out of my schedule, to do nothing but play in the world ... for me that is the scariest thing on the planet. I like my rut.

Not any more.

We allowed two days in Corning, NY, on the way to my conference. We stopped nowhere on the way, no antique malls, barely any restaurant time. Why? Paranoia. The Big Lug likes to take back roads, get off the interstate as much as possible. I can't calculate drive time on back roads. For all I knew it would take us ten hours.

It didn't, and it was beautiful. Lesson number one - go back roads. The food availability is iffy so carry lunchmeats and fruits, but it's well worth the inconvenience.

We spent half a day (the next day) at the glass museum, and the other half at the Mark Twain Exhibit (with the actual building/study in which he wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and other masterpieces) at Elmira College. I forgot the camera for the Twain stuff, but I have some doozies from the glass museum.



This boat is one solid piece of glass, made up of several individual pieces surrounded by more glass.
The detail is amazing!

And look at the artistry of this, nearly 300 year old piece.
From the time of the Pharohs, glass makers were considered high-end artisans, and were paid accordingly. Times have changed, haven't they?

This is the stuff I love - milk glass.
"N.E. Glass" is New England Glass, and about 130 years old. I've seen this piece before. I didn't know what the mark meant. How depressing.

Now, just because it's old doesn't mean it's valuable (glass doesn't decompose, remember) but pieces like these are, usually, because - like the above pieces - intricacy of design and execution, and - unlike the above pieces - beautiful mold work instead of handmade quality.


Then there's Tiffany. Even though I love milk glass, I would give my left arm for something like this.

I remember when his lamps were selling for pennies on the dollar of the cost now. And windows were unheard of! Seeing this all lit up was even more amazing.

The museum also has exhibits on the science of glassmaking that were just all-around cool. The special exhibit right now is about alchemists and glass. "Turning lead into gold" has new meaning after realizing that their experiments took us into "lead crystal," which, of course, is the most expensive you can buy. Nicholas Flamel never found the "sorcerer's stone" in our universe, but he probably earned his keep.

The conference was so much fun ... but more on that later.