One New Thing: January 2013 - Fire and Melty Things

It’s getting hot in here so… ah, nevermind. Today I want to share a fun new experience I had in January. A good friend invited me to join her for a glass blowing class at Seattle Glassblowing Studio. This was something I’d never done before and as someone who believes strongly in experiencing as much as I can, both for my writing and for my own personal growth, I was happy to accept.

Before I get too far into that, however, I want to talk a little about the surprisingly pleasant experience I had on the Seattle buses. I don’t ride the buses much (perhaps six times in 12 years) and I prefer not to drive around them. As a result, I’m a bit clueless when it comes to bus fares and I failed to consider this before stepping onto the bus with my friend who has a bus pass and therefore doesn’t have to worry about rates. As I stood in the front of the bus and dug through my purse in search of the $2.50 fare the driver gave me a pitying look and asked if I’d ridden the bus before. I gave him my sheepish smile…

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and told him I rarely had a need to. He smiled and told me it was my lucky day, I should put my money away and buy myself a coffee later, which was very sweet, although I don’t drink coffee.

At the end of the day, when we got on a bus to leave, I put $3.00 in because I didn’t have any change, but I figured I was still ahead. Although, I told him not to worry about it, the driver hunted down a quarter and sent it back to me with another passenger after I’d taken a seat. Not such bad people, as long as you’re on the bus and not trying to share the road with it.

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Anyway, on to the glass shop and glassblowing pictures.

Inside Seattle Glassblowing Studio.

Looking back into the workroom.

Our teacher, Travis.

Gathering glass. Very hot. Nice on a cold day.

Adding color.

Twisting the glass to swirl the color.

Blowing the glass.

Pressing to push down the bottom of the bowl.

Reheating the glass (this was done often throughout the process).

Sucking to create the inside of the bowl.

Breaking it off the stick so it can be gradually cooled in the ovens.

The finished bowl.

In use.

What similar adventures or experiences have you had that you would recommend to others?

Happy adventuring!