Colorado On My Mind...

We started out our next morning by running out for food for the dinner we'd planned to cook for the kids. I love the Sprouts Farmer's Market that's about 3 blocks from the condo. It's like Fresh Thyme, and we ended up using them quite a bit. 

THIS time, we actually cooked breakfast! What a difference eating regularly means when you're moving around as much as we are! 

The kiln - all 1800 degrees of it!

Around 11 a.m., we ended up at the forge with Kid #1 and he showed us the "scraps pile" where he messes with different pieces to create designs. Kid #2 got to pick out some pieces and they set about working on a bit of "yard art." It was great to watch him work, and I took some videos too. 

Here's the thing. He's been a welder for a long, long time. He spent a lot of years armoring cars, making "clamps for trucks" (straight up fabrication work making the same thing over and over) and learning how to create his own equipment when there isn't anything workable. In that way, he's a total clone of my own grandpa - a machinist who made his own tools when he didn't have what he needed to do the job. When my mom was cleaning out granny's house, she gave Kid #1 several of grandpa's tools. Somehow, the gene has been passed. 

Pneumatic hammer adding texture

The Kid has also done work in glassblowing, and has recently worked as a blacksmith - and he's working with Damascus steel and knife-making. Very 18th century? Well, yes and no. 

Those skills are unique and while it may not have been the "doctor" vision I had for him, he's happy. He's creating. He's working steadily. His experience in fabrication and estimating has been helpful working in an art studio because he's got an extremely pragmatic and practical frame of mind. 

Forming an arc

When we talked, he told me, "Look, mom - I'm always looking at the long game. I'm projecting out into my future, and I love what I'm doing here." I can't argue with him. He looks good, and he's mellowed out - he used to be a frustrated, somewhat angry person. I think a lot of it was in the finding of himself, and in the situation he was in here at home. It's not like we're bristling with art galleries, and even though you read in the news about "jobs growing," they're not growing in the welding sector. They just aren't. Warehouse jobs, driving a forklift or working on a shipping/packing line? That we've got, and I'm not knocking those jobs. But that's not how he wants to live, and I have to accept that he's more of a person who's going to go his own way. I worry. There's no retirement plan for artists and craftsmen. Also not much in the way of health insurance. These are grown-up problems and I wrestle with it for him. But I have to let him go his own way and trust to the Universe to take care of him. 

One arc done

I can clearly see that he's doing what he loves. Watching him move between the extreme heat of the kiln (any misnomers in terminology are mine, folks!) and the anvil and the large pneumatic hammer was really fascinating. He kept saying, "Stay back there, Mom!" Lucky me, I brought the long lens! I wasn't as close as these pictures might make you assume. 

He has a hammer that was made for him (not the one in the picture above) and has an old, old anvil that he dragged with him from Virginia. He created his own forge/kiln. J. does a lot of work in the forge as well, so a lot of the tools are available for him. He showed us some of the knives he was working on, and they were pretty impressive. They're not quite done, but he's working on trying a new way to do handles. 

He also has a big project - a 6-panel large gate for a person who wants a "front entrance statement piece." They do a lot of that there. J. did the design work, and he created the framework, and is working on the internal design. They have an art student working there, and the student cut out a zillion (or so it seems) aspen leaves, which he'll attach to the places on the gate where J. has specified they go - it'll look as if the aspen leaves are blowing gently across the gate. He has to manufacture the latch too - yes, you can order them, but the client is paying for hand-made, and that's what they'll get. 

Dunking the rods after the first forming

He got to go to a huge install in Salina, KS, where she won a juried art show and was able to put her sculpture in a prominent place. The city exhibited a wide variety of artists, and the citizens voted on which ones they liked; the city ended up buying a couple of them - among them was J.'s piece. That's how public art works out there, apparently. 

Forming the centerpiece

So we spent quite a bit of time there, watching the metal change and seeing his mind work in the creation of this piece. It wasn't done by the time we left, but he said it would be.  He told us that he's thinking of coming home for either Thanksgiving or Christmas. He has a piece he's working on for me, and I'm anxious to see it. 

The most fascinating part of it for me was -- well, there were two parts. Watching him form the twirls and then form the bowl of the centerpiece. You could see the concentration - he was totally zoned in on what he was doing, which was impressive. 

Making the curls (that's his hammer in the back there)

A little confession: He took a while... I mean, as a kid, he immersed himself into a lot of different things, such as music and art. But he wasn't jazzed about school. Not that he wasn't smart - he's incredibly smart. But it took a while for him to find his niche. As a mom, it makes my heart smooshy to see him do what he wants to do. 

After we were done in the forge, he and Kid #2 wanted to go to a brewing supply place for some hose - in Castle Rock. I got to test my skills driving in true "foothills." They both decreed I was a dud! 

Sparks from forming the bowl

I don't do well in blind corners. But we took a nice scenic route - Rt. 105, I think, and saw beautiful homes, farms, cows, horses, mini-donkeys and one alpaca! They did razz me a bit and at times, I was kind of freaked out. One of them accused me of "stomping" on the brakes, which I don't think I did. I was just cautious. 

Yes, I got passed by the locals, but I told them that I thought it was mostly their familiarity with the roads. 

At 3 p.m. (jeeze, meals are later and later!) we found a Mexican restaurant and ate there. We ended up coming back to the condo and spending the evening there - just me and Kid #2 - so we could do our baking for the next day's Memorial Day celebration with J.'s dad (mom wasn't there... a little odd, but hey - they're not engaged or anything). I decided to drive to his house so in case there was alcohol, I was ok and in control. It's definitely an "adult child of an alcoholic" thing... 

Air Force Academy Football Field

I made - or tried to make -- an apple crumble. It failed. Baking in high altitudes. Not so much. Kid #2 made CPS Butter Cookies and they were fine. Thankfully! 

On the way home, we had a chance to stop at the observation pull-off by the Air Force Academy. Nothing was going on due to the holiday, but we did have a nice opportunity to take some pictures. I can just imagine when the students are doing "touch-and-go" maneuvers. It must be impressive. 

The condo didn't have AC - which was a surprise to me at first. But the weather the entire time was perfect. So we closed it up while we were gone, and in the evenings, opened all the windows for about an hour or so and it cooled down nicely. Also, the condo had 52" ceiling fans in every room! We had a chance to do a little laundry and wind down from our adventures. 

Random Picture...

We caught the full moon. Even with the light pollution in Colorado Springs, the skies are almost as big as Montana's are. 

We didn't do a lot of stargazing, and I was frankly surprised that I didn't see the Milky Way, like I did in Montana. What we did see were clouds that we felt we could grab. We saw weather move in, and move out - without barely a drop of rain. The cloud formations were amazing, and while it may seem silly, I took several "cloud shots" for later use. Kid #1 said they were in this "weird bubble" and we thought it would rain a couple of days. That's what the forecast said, but nope. 

I mean, the one day it did "rain" -- I thought they were going to throw a parade! But it lasted less than 10 minutes. 

They're under watering restrictions. There were signs all over with the fire ratings and it seemed like everyone was taking it very seriously, which is a good thing. Kid #1 lived through one huge forest fire in VA - he's not interested in doing it again!