Akemi has been hinting about it for years now – on the heels of straight out asking me on several occasions. I considered making the commitment but, inevitably, always changed my mind, anxious at the very thought of saying yes and the foreboding hurdles of going through with it. Then, sometime late last year, she stopped hinting. I assume she must have given up hope. Which made me feel a little sad. And a little guilty. So when Valentine’s Day rolled around this year, I decided to take the plunge.
Yes. I told my mother last night. And now, you are all the first to know. Yes, congratulations are in order. Yesterday, Akemi and I…
Attended a pottery class.
She’s been dying to do it since what feels like forever and, while I’m happy to make sacrifices for love, the thought of two 3 hour craft sessions never failed to trigger a deep-seeded panic in me. But I bit the bullet and signed us up and yesterday, we did it. We learned how to manipulate wet clay on that spinning table. And make cups and bowl like kids trying Play-Doh for the first time. I had my heart set on an ashtray or birdhouse, but I suppose I have to start small. Yes, smaller than an ashtray.
Akemi was, admittedly, better at it. Also, much, much, MUCH more interested. I worked that wheel until my back ached and the sides of my hands burned, finally producing a quasi matcha bowl that, in retrospect, probably could pass for an ashtray. I set it aside at the front of the room, proudly signed by name, then glanced up at the clock, assuming I had time to clean up, take a few photos, and call it a day. 3:45!!!! Only an hour and fifteen minutes had passed! I still had another two hours to go!
My pottery class pictorial –
Akemi, rarin’ to go!
Yours truly, less rarin’.
P.S. The denim apron wasn’t mine. But the clay-spattered jeans and sweater are!
Akemi making a good first impression.
Please. Eyes on your own pottery wheel. No copying!
Two of Akemi’s ten creations. She apparently felt sorry for me on account of my overall ineptness and slowed down.
The Master at work!
Her bowl work.
And my masterpiece: “Alphonse the Bugbear”.
And we get to do it all over again next Sunday!
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