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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.

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A TRIP BACK TO THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ‘60s…...THE GLASS FACTORY

Anyone of a certain age, who lived in or near Mendocino County - or even someone who still does - is going to recognize a lot of what we saw at the glass factory. It’s quite near Nairobi, at the end of five kilometers or so of horrendous road (or more easily across a very scary swinging bridge). Here’s what greets you as you exit your car and start into the grounds…..
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Somehow, that makes me think of all the Benny Bufano sculpture and paintings that used to be seen in San Francisco….I guess he’s out of fashion, now, but here in one tiny part of Nairobi, they appear to be remembering him. Let’s go on in, now—here’s the entrance court….
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Look carefully—sculpture, blown glass, pottery and metalwork is EVERYwhere! It was amazing - you could spend an entire day trying to see it all. A lot of it was just “meh”, or even “kidding, right?”, but there was also beautiful stuff I wouldn’t mind at all having on display. Here was an outdoor sitting area - you’ll see what I mean about the genuine “mixed-bag” nature of it all:

Once we got inside, our senses were simply overwhelmed!! So many pieces - it reminded me of being in Fred and Elaine’s house in S.F…..you hardly know where to look, and the sheer mass of it all is downright intimidating….even the FLOOR was part of the explosion of imagination and art:

Through the door in the background, there’s actually a pond with an opening in the roof over it—we’ll go beyond, and look back across the “pond-room” into the room right in front of you…..

There’s just no way to capture it all for you—rooms and rooms of this kind of thing! Here was my favorite thing in this more whimsical part of the glass factory

I’m honestly not sure who makes all this stuff, because the glass factory (despite appearances) is a genuine, and quite serious, business. They are shipping glassware, both mundane and rather special, all over the world (although not to the U.S., yet). The manager himself took us around, and it’s an impressive place! Here’s the glass-blowing room with the furnaces:

The big one with the glow is currently in operation - the smaller one is for colored glass, and there isn’t enough of a market right now for them to fire it up. The workmen in front of you was asked to make a bowl to show us how it’s done - I got a video of the entire process, and we arranged to come back next day to buy it! This time, instead of braving the road, we tried the swinging bridge…..

When we got there, the bowl was ready:

Gail asked to have a picture of the guy who made it—he was somewhat bemused….I’m not exactly sure what he thought of us!

While we were waiting around for them to pack the bowl - our friends, the Crutchers, will carry it home with them as they go for their annual leave - it got out that we were there on Gail’s birthday. She was made a present of a couple of stemmed glasses (her choice) from the shelf where they keep the pieces that are excess to what has been ordered, or are trials, or (perhaps) seconds…a motley collection, but she picked a couple of nice heavy pieces that ought to travel home safely - we’re going to enjoy them, especially having seen where they were created! (I know - I should have a photo. But, I was watching the guys in the furnace room and before I realized what had happened, the glasses were all packed for shipping.)

Finally, before we left, we got to see them charging the furnace with glass - it takes 550 pounds of scrap glass every single day, and requires all night long to get it melted and at the right temperature for working.

Running the furnace requires about 100 gallons (2 barrels) of waste automotive oil per day - it ROARS for 24 hours, 7 days/week. They explained that getting everything back to the right temperature after a total cooldown takes from 6 weeks to 2 months, so they simply don’t turn the main furnace off…someone is there around the clock to keep it going properly.

The glass factory was a fascinating part of the trip—an incredible study in contrasts. We’ll never forget it - the bowl and the glasses will see to that.

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