It has been terribly too long since I last posted here. However like geese we flew out this spring, and now returning this fall. We weren't gone, just busy!
To catch everyone up. This spring we announced that we would be traveling around the US bringing the new CAG Master Judging Certification classes to a city near you. And we did just that. We started in Boise Idaho in May. What a fun group we had there. They were the first group to experience the "field trip", and didn't know quite what to expect. But after we were done, they loved it! A funny thing happened on the way to Boise, (heard that opener before I bet). The road that goes from Burns Oregon to the Idaho border, is long, desolate, and no cell service in most places. As we came across this little bridge over a creek a fully loaded semi with beautiful oak hardwood 1x4's lost control, spun on its slide and slid between the bridge abutments. Totally blocking traffic. (So that you know the driver was miraculously unhurt) To go around it you would have travel nearly 200 miles out of the way. Local ranchers and farmers began stopping on either side of the wreck. Suddenly they organized. The new leader in the group said he wasn't willing to wait 6 - 8 hours to get the mess cleared.
About 20 people approached the wreck and started tossing the lumber off the sides into the creek and the ground. In less than 30 minutes they had the truck completely unloaded. Then they hooked about 3 or 4 big old V10 Dodges and Ford Pickups on either side and started winching this huge semi out of the way. It was wild. Finally a large fertilizer truck had an even bigger winch and soon a narrow path was cleared for one way traffic to pass on the bridge and we were on our way. Later we heard it was over 12 hours before the tow truck came and got the truck out of there.So why am I sharing this incredibly long story that has nothing to do with ceramics? For one, this is a blog, I get to ramble on. But seriously the quickly organized efforts, got a seemingly impossible task done, and there were results. In our industry we can sit around and wait for the tow truck that will make it like it used to be, (which is not the direction it should go) or we can respond and take action and create a way of sustainability in our industry and businesses. The industry is getting stronger, every day. Are you a part of the team that clears the way of the old rubbish? Or are you someone who will just sit on the side and wait for gold coins to come falling from the sky?
Six beautiful, intelligent and challenging ladies took the very first CAG Master Judging seminar that weekend. They are now well on their way to completing their homework and getting ready for their PHASE II class.
From there we would come back home, and get ready for almost 6 weeks on the road. We rented a 30' motor home from Cruise America. You will never realize how many Cruise America motor homes are out there until you visit Yellowstone National park on one of it's most busiest days and you count them into the 100's as you drive through the park. That one extra glass of red wine at dinner when you walk back to the parking lot could be challenging. "Now which one of these is ours?"
Our traveling team consisted of myself (Tommy Lee), my wife Kathy, her mother Eileen (age 80), our grandosn Roland (age 8), his best friend Zack (age 10) and our traveling cat Magic (age ?). All in all, we survived. Many things learned on the trip. Never take a six week week where 5 people and 1 cat have to live in a 200 sq foot space. It gets a little complicated after about 10 days. The intermittent hotel breaks when we would be teaching a seminar, were life savers for the travelers.
Our next stop was Los Angeles, CA (Riverside). When the hotel you end up at is in the "red light" district. It adds a flavor to the location quite its own. But the Riverside story will be in the next blog.
See YOU ALL at CONVERGENCE next summer. (July 17-23, 2011 - CORBAN University)
