"MELLOW YELLOW (QUITE RIGHTLY)"

"Man, don’t waste three gallons of water to get rid of a cup of sterile piss.” 
“Why is that kindly hippy?” 
“Just remember man, 'If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown flush it down.'” 
“Thank you, sir. Perhaps with the water we save in the crapper you might be able to bathe more thoroughly in the future.” 

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start where we left off...

We were so happy to arrive at the Corning Glass Museum early. We missed the main parking lot and pulled into the back of the museum and asked an employee walking by if it was cool to park there. But of course. Sally directed us through the vast museum shop and up to admissions. What a stupendous museum. Ines was in awe as we walked through the white galleries with the impressive art glass. So was I.

This museum is not to be missed. there is so much to it from art glass to fiber optics, telescopes, the history of glass (give that gallery an hour unto itself) and demonstrations. It is almost overwhelming. This is a "must do". My photos won't do it justice so just go there.

We met up with Sally later and took an info chat break. She is actually a volunteer and it took nine months of classes to ready her for giving tours of the museum, a far cry from her former job of parole officer. This is her smiling face. You can tell that she really loves her museum gig.

I needed a glass break (oooo - that was punny) so we boarded the free shuttle to the Gaffer district and ate at the Indian place that my friend had suggested. They had a wonderful buffet that we inhaled and then walked off window shopping along market street before returning to view the last two exhibits outside the main building. I was glassed out at that point and we packed it in and got back on the road to Pennsylvania.

BRADFORD, PA - home of Drew, a couchsurfer and kindred spirit. But Drew is not around as he is out traveling the USA too. Perhaps we will meet as he heads east and we head west. Instead we were greeted by his long time friend Shelia and later her Al, their two dachshunds and a tuxedo cat that tried to make out with me the first night. She crawled into bed with me to snuggle but when she started sniffing around my lips I let her know that I don't kiss on the first date.

Sheila was ready for us. She was all set with meatloaf fixings. We shared massive food and conversation and it hasn't really stopped since we arrived except for nighttime sleeping. Al got here last night. We just have this small "situation". Sometime soon after dinner Friday we lost running water. The house is fed by a spring and although we have had some rain the water levels are down. It wasn't going to resolve itself right away so Shela made a water run to the local store and we adopted the "if it's yellow" conservation rule. Drew's brother Mark came the next day to check the lines up the hill and he discovered some things amiss and made some fixes. I got my army ponchos out of my car's trunk (one for me and one for Ines) gathered some buckets and jugs and headed out back to the pond. I am so glad that I decided to pack my muck boots and not leave them behind. I thought that I might use them at a farm but instead have christened them gathering bucket loads of reserve flush water. It actually made the day even more fun. Ya know - even in the rain you gotta stay active.

Later in the day we took a driving tour of Bradford's old homes and buildings and liquor store. A roaring fire in the fireplace, afternoons and evenings filled with stories, well wine and cheese is simply mandatory. We have a nice list of outdoor things to do come Monday when the weather clears up but today (Sunday) I think we will just continue to hang loose and hope Mark's fixes result in some water filling the holding tank. We will all take a shower excusion to a friend's house later and bring some dishes along to clean up too. My trunk was pretty well stocked with paper plates to go along with the ponchos and muck boots. We are thrivers not just survivors and this sure beats a campground in the rain.

Ines and I are having a really good time. Someday I will meet the owner of this house. The one book that I brought on this journey he has in his shelves. and many of the things that come out of my mouth sound to Sheila as if I am some cosmic twin. Yes - I am finding my tribespeople along this twisted magical path across the USA.

Now - where is the bottled water? I need to make some Sunday morning coffee.