Crawford, CO

Crawford, CO

Sunday, 26. May 2013

Colorado and wild cowboy stories.

Monroe, a very young glassmaker suddenly appeared in the door – we had expected a slightly older gentleman in this beautiful house. However with a dog, 3 motorbikes and 4 trucks on top of that, he was more of the active kind. He introduced us to the land of the cowboys and while hiking told us that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid lived and robbed banks in this area. He also told us where we could pan for gold. Our last evening, we spent with him in his yurt with some bread, cheese and wine.

Unfortunately he didn’t have his furnace running. Monroe had figured out that for a steady income, he would prefer to build and decorate houses. We liked his studio very much as it was built quite high with big doors to one side, which he could open should it get too hot to work. Shame, but maybe next time.

From there we went by car approximately an hour north to Jared and Nicole Davis. They’d got the glass bug from Jan-Erik Ritzman and Sven-Åke Carlsson and so opened their own studio seven years ago. We arrived there and immediately after lunch got to help at the furnace. Over the next few days the four of us produced some bigger pieces together, while outside the weather was really hot. Every day after work, Jared and Nicole always had a different plan on how best to cool down - once we went swimming in a nearby lake which was icy cold and another time we went for a relaxed walk in Black Canyon, followed by a delicious dinner on the rocks.

Working together was great fun. Although the last piece, on which all four of us had been working for three hours, fell to the floor while four pairs of eyes watched it smash. 

Then there was the invitation to go shooting the next day. Jared and Nicole introduced us to this truly American cowboy hobby. Armed with her black pistol and a 45 Colt, dressed in black with shades, Louise looked really dangerous. Thank goodness she was only shooting at plastic bottles filled with water!

Holding a pistol and a gun, gave both Louise and I an uneasy feeling. We had huge respect for these weapons. It’s a creepy feeling to hold something in your hand that can extinguish a life. Also the force of the recoil on our bodies after we’d pulled the trigger was quite something. Aiming wasn’t easy, but we both managed to hit the target with each weapon at least once.

We’re currently in a McDonald’s where we are uploading our blog. Burgers aside, the internet here is free! We’ll then travel through the night to Los Angeles.