Hot, Hot, Hot New York

It was truly killer in New York the past few days. And I'm not talking about the wild goings-on in Manhattan. No, I'm actually describing the tranquil and beautiful Finger Lakes region which was suffering from a very intense heat wave. And, of course,we had an outdoor magazine assignment there.

And we are worn out. I arrived first and Michael followed later that day after a gruelling problem at work. The cast and crew of the Hill Cumorah Pageant are real troopers. They had lots of practice onstage in the very hot weather. We were very impressed with the whole show, especially since the cast arrived on the 2nd and by the 8th, they were able to do a final run-through with costumes. And we got to take lots of pictures of adorable children. It's a very historic site whether you are a Latter-day Saint or not. This is where Joseph Smith found the golden plates which he translated into the Book of Mormon.

We also visited the print shop where the Book of Mormon was first printed. They've done a nice job recreating the print shop. And they have some original paintings there that anyone who has read our church's magazines for any length of time will recognize.

Michael had to hurry back to work, but I got to play tourist and I'm so glad I did. We had been meaning to visit Corning and the Corning Museum of Glass there.

I liked the Heineman collection best. The museum was given a world class collection by a couple from Chicago and they even have photos of their apartment so that you can see how they displayed the art. I usually find modern art museums to be wearing  because so many of the pieces are drab, or dreary or depressing, or all of the above. And the naked subjects (not nudes which is a different thing altogether) are gallingly lifelike and generally out of shape. But modern glass artists, regardless of their message, seem to have the general idea that art should bring light into your soul. And the colors or complete lack thereof are stunning.

 Some of their historical glass can also knock your eyes out. This wall above was particularly impressive as so many of you have seen this Louis Comfort Tiffany panel. I didn't know how large it was though. It's probably ten feet tall at its tallest point. Came from a "castle" in New York.  You can only imagine how beautifully lit this museum is.

They also have a fabulous section on the science and physics of glass as well as demonstrations of glass blowing and other techniques. The science section had a big display about automated bottle making which is the subject of my Michael's patent.