A Little Break

I've been away from the studio for a little over a week.  Alright, I can be more accurate than that.  It's been nine days.  That's seven days of grading AP Calculus exams and two days of travel.  The point of this is not to talk about my experiences grading exams - the joy of reconnecting with the friends that I only get to see at the reading, the difficulty of sitting for eight hours a day and concentrating, the fun of going out after work each night for drinks and dinner and to NOT talk about math, the sense of community and accomplishment that I feel in being a part of such a large, important undertaking.  The point of this post is to share how taking a break from pottery was good for me.

Since the first of the year I've felt a deep responsibility to ensure that things continue to run smoothly at A Griffin Pottery.  The first three months were about keeping things going for Allen.  I pushed down the fear and sadness to get things done. I worked. I wanted things to be such that if Allen could come to Shelby he would find things just as he left them.  I made a lot of pottery trying to make sure there would be enough work to bisque and glaze fire on a regular basis. 

The next two months were about figuring out if I could go on without Allen - facing the things that scared me and allowing the grief to wash over in waves.  Could Susan Jones actually make A Griffin Pottery Associates work?  What could I keep the same?  What did I have to change?  Could I learn enough about the things I didn't yet know to get by?  Who could I ask when I had questions about something? 

All of this means that for five months, I thought about Allen, about making pottery, about what needed to happen at the studio almost constantly.  I'm not complaining.  Just the opposite.  I needed and wanted to do that.  I needed and wanted to be at the studio almost daily.  

This nine day break though has been good.  I'm not rested exactly because I've worked HARD for the last week and I've not gotten enough sleep.  I am refreshed though.  I can't wait to get back to my studio and check on things.  I want to see what Gail and Ronnie and Lisa have done while I was gone.  I want to make more "leafy things" with the leaves that I picked up on my way back from eating a chilli bombed pizza at Grinders the other night. (If you are ever in the Kansas City and want a truly unique experience, go to Grinders.  The place kind of defies description.  Do not be afraid of the chilli bomb.  It's intimidating but so worth it!  www.grinderspizza.com)

I have to share something else too.  I got a phone call this week.  I was on my way back to the reading room from lunch one and had my phone on (I keep it turned off when we are working).  When I answered, the voice I heard was familiar enough to cause me to catch my breath and almost stopped me in my tracks.  It was Allen's brother Walt.  It took me a minute to recover from the shock of hearing a voice that sounded so much like Allen.  (Walt, if you are reading this I hope you don't mind that I'm sharing.)  He had been reading this blog and called to tell me that he thought that Allen would be pleased about everything.  That when he drives by the place, he looks at it and thinks that it's OK.  We shared a few Allen stories and talked about how much we miss him. Thanks so much, Walt, for that call.  I hope that sometime if you are driving by if you see the open flag that you'll stop in and say hi. 

Today is the ninth day of the sixth month of 2016, and I'm excited to see what comes next.