“…a new frontier in the annals of self-involvement.” – David Carr
And then three days at the office. Where was I? Oh yes…
Stone cold kiln; out before first light to start the stove on this freakishly cold April morning. A light spitting rain that my weather robot says will get worse, so door down, pots out, shelves and posts out, door back in. Sealed up again before M had even walked into school — probably both the fastest and earliest unload I’ve ever done.
Just a glance at each pot, test tile and cone pack as I rushed them into the studio, but first glance looks OK. Pretty good for a garbage firing. Well, not garbage; I mean for a load of the least interesting pots off the bisk shelf, the pots I cared the least about and sacrificed to this trial run. Not risking the iPad in the rain, so that photo will have to come later. Here they are in the studio, laid out exactly as they were stacked.
First glance says the kiln worked — no single thing went wrong and ruined the whole load. First glance says new chimney is good. First glance says fucking whew! Most glazes look like I expected, roughly, melting the right amount in their respective zones. Didn’t see any surprises in those eight extra cone packs: super hot on bottom, still, super cold on top back. (Relatively cold. We’re talking the difference between 2400F and 2250F.)
Anyways, I think it gave me lots of good info, even if the pots aren’t great. They don’t need to be great yet. I think I can work with this.
Back in to warm up, regroup, stretch and rest my spine. If I’d done that last year at this time, it probably would have been bad news. This year (I think), it’s stretch, pop, rest it a bit and back to the grind. Progress, maybe.
Soon I’ll head back out, with my third or sixth cup of coffee, and try to digest the firing. Some quick notes; a rough plan for the next batch. Then I need to unload the electric — another back killer — so I can glaze and wad another whole load again today; so I can reload tomorrow between showers. So I can, so I can, so I can…
“Moments snap together like magnets.”
Thinking that once I get to the mindless waxing stage, I’ll take R’s suggestion and listen to Walter Ostrom on ToaRCR. Exciting.
Fire Saturday, number 69, if I get it all done and the wind isn’t nuts. Again. There you go, god(s). That’s my plan. Start chuckling.