"Has he lost his mind? Can he see or is he blind?"

This afternoon after Tea Time, Angie and I went to see the iron pour. It's an annual event in the school of art, but this was my first time. It was very exciting--the molten metal is glowing and beautiful, and everything is tinged with a very real sense of danger. A couple times as they were trying to get the iron to come out of the crucible, something happened and a shower of liquid sparks went everywhere, even burning a hole in the fleece of one of the onlookers. (That is, of course, the reason for the heavy leather jackets and face masks.)

It was extra exciting for me because my friend Bill the English Professor was there. It was the first I'd seen of him since we used to run into each other in the public library this summer, so it was really great. He was just as thrilled as I was with the pour, dancing around when they tipped the bucket to fill the molds and literally jumping up and down at the excitement of it all.

Or maybe he was jumping up and down to keep warm. Laments of not having dressed properly for the distinctly inclement weather were ubiquitous. Still, there's nothing like watching hot metal and talking to old--and new--friends to make it all worthwhile.