Storm, Glass Lobster

The original plan was I'd be at my Mom's ready to ride at 8:30 to beat the heat of the day. A friend who rode at 7:30 this morning said it probably wouldn't have mattered. Anyway, Mo was up in the night and when I awoke at 8:00 and realized she was still asleep, I took a piss and a quick inventory of myself and decided being well rested mattered more than ten degrees on the thermometer. So I went back to bed and didn't get up until 9:30.




By the time everyone had made their morning ablutions, taken their drugs, eaten, and made it to the car, it was past 11:00. And I had to stop off at the pharmacy to buy more drugs (a refill of Atenolol, relax: we may take more drugs than the front row of a Grateful Dead concert, but they're not the fun ones).



So when I get to Mom's, the sky has suddenly darkened to where I don't need my sunglasses, and I think, maybe check the weather.



Glad I did, because a small but intense storm was moving toward my planned ride route at 55 mph with 'damaging winds up to 70 mph,' heavy rain and all that.

So, I'd planned Moon Marble for after the ride, but had worried by the time I got such a late ride in we wouldn't make it there while they were still open and doing demos. So why not go to the Moon first, then ride after the storm blew over?



So that's what we did, and it was a good decision because a few minutes after we got in the car to head to the Moon, it was run the wipers on high and drive at a snail's pace. It wouldn't have been fun to be five miles out on a ride when this shit came up.

I've been to the Moon many times, of course, but this was the first time I'd seen Sarah making marbles. She specializes in little marbles with frogs and lizards and whatnot sitting on them. Goofy looking frogs that look like one of those poisonous or hallucinogenic amphibians of the Amazon rain forest crossed with a muppet.



So I asked her between demos, Ever do a lobster?



No, she hadn't, but she could. I've wanted a lobster marble since I learned there were handmade marbles. Bruce has one with a lobster embedded in it, but it was stolen once and he's understandably leery about tempting fate by bringing it back to the shop (it came back to him once but no guarantees, it's like his One Ring).

So I asked, What would a lobster set me back?

And Sarah said, 'Twenty bucks.' SOLD!



It's in the annealing kiln now, I can pick it up Tuesday.