The day started at the Corning Museum of Glass. Many of my family are predisposed to being distracted, Much as a dog seeing a squirrel. So I wasn’t sure how to react to the challenge of finding the squirrel. Of course, I found it.

It is difficult to absorb the whole museum and retain much detail. I’d say there are four major themes – art based in glass, glass objects through 3,500 years of history, technological developments in glass, and demonstration of forming objects with glass. I struggled with the art exhibits, although some of the pieces were surely expressive to me, most were not something I either liked, or understood. The history was astonishing – how techniques developed far early than I would have guessed, and the types and uses of glass weren’t news, but seeing them all in sequence was overwhelming. The tech part covered materials and manufacturing methods, fiber, lenses, chemistry, etc. – just plain fun. The best part was watching two craftspeople work together to make a glass pitcher from heating the glass, forming and blowing, and adding base and handle. Such skill.