Scrounging

 Ware racks scrounged by Ron

As an observer, I pass the kiln several times a day on my way to feed the chickens or get the squash from the garden. A year has passed since the concrete slab was poured in 105 degree heat. Philip, Clarence, and Karin were out there in the heat leveling and sweeping the concrete. Little by little, bricks and mortar appeared. The first trip for bricks was a year earlier to Trish Browns in Salvisa, Kentucky. Philip brought bricks from one of his previous kiln projects, and Clarence and Philip made a pilgrimage to Olive Hill Brick works, a place that Clarence referred to as the beauty of the industrial age ruins.

Scavenging is one of Clarence’s most valuable pastimes. The iron for the frame came from a number of sources, old pieces of angle iron from old bed rails, iron from Philip’s stash and from Ron’s. Most importantly, the kiln has become a community effort. The first ware shelves were installed last week just opposite the massive hand building table that Clarence built. Early in the morning I sometimes look in to see what Ron has made before he heads for his night job.

Clarence spent a great deal of time reading kiln instructions, and though he had been involved in the building of kilns, this was his first one. Phillip brought extensive experience to the job.  It stands almost complete under the tin roof. Each night a few more bricks are added to the chimney and soon the door will go on the firebox. We greatly anticipate the first firing in mid-August. My hat’s off to the scroungers and the brick layers. I think they are driven by fire. Soon the flames will be shooting up into the sky and something new will come out of the furnace.

Vicky Hayes