In which we go riding, it doesn't rain, and we see something shiny

Well, the rain slowed down a little bit.... "Good enough!" says me. And off we went.

I haven't been to this trailhead in a couple of years, and Fiddle has never been here.

She likes to explore new trails.

I guess that's a good thing, considering she's supposed to be an endurance horse.

Isn't this just the prettiest place? (Fee says the clover groundcover is tasty, too!)

The trails were muddy, but Fiddle kept her feet just fine. What a good mare!

I did cuss a little at this stretch of trail. It's steep, braided, and horrible--clearly, there were no TrailMasters around when this got punched through! Ah, well. Good practice for Fiddle, I suppose.

And what have we here?

P-I-L-C-H-U-C-K spelled out in blocks of glass.

The sign is there because the stretch of trail we explored today is immediately adjacent to the Pilchuck Glass School.

Dale Chihuly started teaching summer glass workshops in 1971. Chihuly, accompanied by two other teachers and 16 students, built glass furnaces and began blowing glass just sixteen days after arriving at the Hauberg’s tree farm.

The first summer session was a huge success, and the Haubergs agreed to provide the location and financial support for a second summer workshop, and then a third. A few years later, realizing that Pilchuck glass workshops had become a summer mainstay rather than an occasional happening, the Haubergs established the school as a non-profit, solidifying the framework for today’s Pilchuck Glass School.

And hey: if you're interested in seeing the Glass School up close, they have an annual tour event coming up in October. You can tour the grounds, meet the artists, and participate in some "hands-on activities" for the low-low-low price of $1,900 per person.

I checked it three times. That's really the cost. Egad.

Maybe I'll just visit the public Chihuly art installations, instead.

(the window above is on display in Union Station, in Tacoma WA, the chandelier below is in the Tulalip Casino just a few miles from Haiku Farm).

It's pretty stuff. If you come visit us here in the Swamplands, we can go see it together!