Anagama Kiln Night

As you may or may not know, I was able sit in on an anagama-firing shift last night/this morning. I got there around 10:45 last night and stayed till around 7:00am. I had drunk roughly 4 cups of coffee (thanks to Shane Rudeseal) before I got there, so I was pretty excited and restless at the beginning. I fidgeted uncomfortably, however, as no one said a thing- it was very quiet. To my credit, I did ask a few affable questions. I tend to talk more as there are less people so eventually, when it came down to just Micah, James, and I, I spoke somewhat freely. But until then, I wondered to myself if the whole shift would consist of me sitting by awkwardly, and others doing pretty much the same.
Taken from the side/rear of the kiln. James and Micah in the foreground.

During the entire 8 hour shift, we threw wood in the kiln and sat while we tossed around movie titles. Anyone who knows me well will know that this kind of excercise is not disagreeable to me by any means.
Micah doing what we did all night- sit.

I love sitting quietly most of all, and was able to do that, to my pleasure. I also enjoyed the company of James and Micah, two very talented, genuine guys.
A pot must've exploded or something. Note their concerned expressions.

The doorway to the kiln.

Anagama kiln

James and Micah after doing the manly work of throwing wood into the fire.

There were moments of complete boredom. This is when we burned other things, like a chair... and a pizza box.
We smashed a chair and fed it to the hungry monster.

Feeding the flames

The fire glows brightly through the crack of the kiln-door.

As you can see by the size of the flames coming out of the chimney, the kiln enjoyed devouring the chair very much.

The kiln as seen from outside the shed. You can see the chimney on the left.

Micah tossing sticks into the side-window


Micah and James were patient with me when I threw the sticks and missed the fire. Multiple times.
James

As the night drew on and it got steadily colder, we got closer and closer to the kiln, till we were in a near-huddle at the mouth of the anagama. Whenever we opened the door, my knees burned searingly because the fire was so hot.
They ended up pinning the door aside and piling pieces of wood in the doorway. It got very (nicely) warm.


Right around 5:00am, we began to get sleepy, and yawns ensued. Micah and James kept up a brave face, though, and persisted in asking me if certain movies were on the AFI Top 100. Most of the ones they mentioned were not.


Toward the end of the shift, I was a mean person and didn't help throw wood into the kiln- so I could take pictures of them doing it.


The night was pretty awesome, I thought. I enjoyed myself. I would do it again fo shizzle.
When I got back home I took a shower, then went to bed and slept till 11:22am. I slept incredibly well, dreaming about pots and potters.
I had to be at work at 1:00pm, so after some coffee I tried to make myself look somewhat presentable.
Work was pretty much awful- a co-worker didn't show, so we were short-handed. I was glad when the day was over.
As I write this, my eyelids are heavy. The kiln and the library pooped me out today. I am looking forward to reclining and watching a movie, then perhaps leisurely working on my paper. Then sleep...sweet sleep.