Dakota Dispatch #4: Pottery, before

Last week, I took a class with my mom entitled, "Pottery for the Garden." Accordingly, I made two wall pots and a birdbath bowl. I also made two plates that really aren't garden-appropriate. Tonight, we glazed and I'm now feeling very dusty. Anyway, the photos below are pre-firing. The pots come out of the kiln Saturday morning, so I'll post pictures then to demonstrate the magic powers of heat.

The wall pots, this glaze is named "Blue Earth:"



The birdbath bowl should end up with a cream base (and possibly a leaf pattern on the bottom that shows through) and mint green leaves:



And, the plates. The one with the admittedly cheesy NYU theme is supposed to end up blue and white while the geometric patterned one is supposed to be green, blue and white. However, both the blue and green glazes used are a bit temperamental, so they might end up with a fair amount of brown mixed in.

Dakota Dispatch #3: The Office

My office is up and running! Not only is it easily the cheapest room I've ever rented, I also kind of smitten with it. It's in an old building and hasn't been used in a few years. One of my dad's co-workers is renovating a big chunk of the building's other offices to create a big apartment for his family. In the meantime, they're letting me camp out in one of the smaller offices. Here's an inside look at the place where the magic that's going to make me a real lawyer will now be happening.

The view looking in:


The view looking out:


One of my favorite features is the old light switch:


And I'm oddly charmed by the deadbolts and their round knobs:


Not to mention the thingy that opens the window above the door:


Also, the former inhabitant of the office left some patriotic reminders behind for me:


And when that's not enough inspiration, there's this, too:

Dakota Dispatch #2: Memorial Day

Yesterday, my dad informed me that today would be the beginning of my summer shooting lessons. We began with a refresher course on how different types of guns work (something he's taught me no less than 5 times before but refuses to believe I'm capable of remembering). Then, after collecting pop cans and a cardboard box to serve as our targets, we headed out to the shooting range. Unfortunately, this is what we found when we arrived:


Luckily, the drive out there is very pretty:


And, the change in plans gave us time to stop at Memorial Park (my favorite part of the Lake Kampeska) on the way back to town. There's a small set of hiking trails there that I haven't been to in at least five years. The trails have been updated in the past few years and are looking pretty good:


This new gazebo marks Watertown's own "Inspiration Point:"


Alas, our trek ended on a sad note when we stumbled upon this casualty:


This evening, my mom and I set up my new office. Afterward, we met up with my dad and stopped at the Zesto for ice cream. So, in summary, my day included time at the lake, cleaning with my mom and ice cream. I've basically traveled back in time 15 or 20 years.

Dakota Dispatch #1: Home

I arrived in South Dakota last Friday and my parents celebrated my arrival with an order s of fried chicken gizzards from the truck stop near the Sioux Falls airport. The next day, my mom talked me into joining her on a flower-buying expedition to one of the local nurseries.



Saturday night was equally exciting -- dinner with relatives. My parents and I showed off photos from their trip to New York and I ate too many cookies. Sunday included a trip to the lake for a couple hours of fishing with my dad. We didn't have much luck -- this was our only catch:



And, Sunday afternoon, I found an office to rent for the next two months. It's an old office downtown and it currently looks like a slightly-seedy private detective's office. I love it. It's also walking distance from my favorite restaurant/coffee shop, a bakery, and the public library. So, there's a good chance I'll be failing the bar exam.

Anyway, it's good to be home. It's not super-hot yet and there's been a lot of rain recently so everything's green and fresh-smelling. Since New York is rarely either of those things, I'm feeling like the decision to study here was a good one.