Dancing with Fire

Guest post by Rachel Addie, niece of the Perrin's and summer visitor/sweat laborer...
As a Texan, born in the heart of Dallas (where the temperature varies between eternal damnation and sauna), I'm probably more comfortable in the face of fire than the average Mainer... or so I like to think. But I was still trembling as I was handed my first glob of glass on the end of the puntil. And I'll be completely honest - I screamed when I completed my first "paperweight." It's a dangerous dance with a blazing partner, and you don't have any time to stop and think - you just go. The glass is always cooling, always hardening, becoming less and less malleable. The entire process is like a free fall. You can't stop. Once you get going, you go until your glass item leaves that pipe. And dance really is a good word for it, because it's so similar to music. It's a fast-paced sort of thing, but it's a combination of songwriting and performing. You plan out your piece, and then you go. But when you pull out that piece and see it for the first time at room temperature, it's all worth it. It's a jewel, a transformation of all your discomfort and sweat.
A tangible representation of something I believe - suffering produces beauty, a gentle spirit. Well, the first attempt wasn't exactly beauty, but it was a cute little thing. It's the one on the left. I call it the "Crystal Turd".The one on the right is my second attempt, and I liked that one. :) So yeah, that's all for now. I faced the furnace today, a giant box of flaming death, and survived. I call that success.