Now Hailing from Etna

Sometime last year, perhaps in November, I recieved an email from New Hampshire. A friendly sounding sculptor had been lurking around this blog. I don't know if lurking is the best word, but it is a pretty common word to describe what most people do on blogs. I'm comfortable with you lurking around here, don't put comments unless you feel very inspired.

So, this lurker mentioned that he liked Ithaca and grew up nearby (about 45 minutes east of Ithaca). He and his wife were getting tired of the high property taxes of New Hampshire (and mostly the high assessed values that made his house worth more sold than lived in. So he decides to move and move he did - - to the hamlet of Etna in the town of Dryden! He and his wife bought a house in late March and though we've been connected via the blog and later emails, we never met face to face until Sunday afternoon.

His name is Gary and his wife's name is Maude. They have two dogs and two cats and have the greatest house! It was built in the 1850's or so as a one room house and then added to over the years. There are exposed wooden beams and an entire room with a skylight for his sculpting studio. He makes cups and mugs and pots and adds little hand sculpted pigs and animals. It is a really neat business. I wish I knew someone who had a cafe or tea shop that could sell his wares...oh wait, maybe I can introduce Gary to Geri.

After Quesadillas and juice we toured the house and mid-tour the craziest thing since watching the frogs fall in Magnolia happened. It was about 75 degrees out and hail the size of small marbles started to fall out of the sky. They bounced off of the roof and skylight and porch and I ran out and scooped up a handful. An hour later, after a cup of coffee it was all gone.

For the first time in over a year I left my house without my camera! Luckily Gary had one available and took some pictures from that day in Etna. Here is a quick review:

A handful of hail Sunday afternoon (note the hail on the porch in the background)

The first picture of me on the blog in a long while

Gary and Maude's doggy (Buster I think) and me (promoting BNI and one of my favorite bands - Aaron Katz Band)

The fantastic purple house of route 366

Gary, some of his hand made mugs and one of his three kilns

It was great to meet people in person after a lot of emails and to see a new Drydenite's excitement about living in this part of New York state and in this part of the country. After living in Chicago and New Hampshire, they could have moved anywhere and they landed here! Welcome to town!

Comments

[KAZ]

Athena Kalandros in Groton runs the Red Door Coffee House, and she's into selling/displaying local stuff.