Random Non-Marble Eye Candy ( :

[ann]

You just took me back to being awestruck in my childhood in eastern NC, William. I was maybe 5 - 6 years old and dead asleep when my parents came into my bedroom, started shaking me awake, carried my uncomprehending self downstairs and bundled me, in my robe, into the car, and took off. I was too groggy to even imagine why they were doing this. They drove outside of town, to a very dark road, pulled off, snatched me out of the car, sat me on the hood, and said "Look!" I looked up into the night sky where they were pointing, and saw great curtains of red light pulsing and waving, over half the night sky. I think I should have been terrified, but I wasn`t. I was awestruck. It was a shocking and wonderful feeling. After a little, they explained what I was seeing, and the experience is as clear in my mind now as it was then. So I know how you felt!

[William]

1 hour ago, ann said:

You just took me back to being awestruck in my childhood in eastern NC, William. I was maybe 5 - 6 years old and dead asleep when my parents came into my bedroom, started shaking me awake, carried my uncomprehending self downstairs and bundled me, in my robe, into the car, and took off. I was too groggy to even imagine why they were doing this. They drove outside of town, to a very dark road, pulled off, snatched me out of the car, sat me on the hood, and said "Look!" I looked up into the night sky where they were pointing, and saw great curtains of red light pulsing and waving, over half the night sky. I think I should have been terrified, but I wasn`t. I was awestruck. It was a shocking and wonderful feeling. After a little, they explained what I was seeing, and the experience is as clear in my mind now as it was then. So I know how you felt!

When it really comes to being totally awestruck, I mean witnessing an event that became one of the worst disasters in history, it was the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. 

That fateful morning I was getting ready for work, listening to the television. I just lived right up the coast from Cape Canaveral, in Jacksonville, Florida.

I was a teenager then, working at a lumberyard. I went out the door, jumped on my 10 speed, and started out (my job was only a 20 minute bike ride away)

I stopped about 5 minutes into my ride too look up and too the south, hoping too catch a glimpse of the Challenger shooting up into the morning sky.

I saw it alright. I saw the long plume from the exhaust of the booster rockets, following it with my eyes too that little bright point of light which was the shuttle.

Seconds after fixed my eyes on it, I saw it come apart, with those trails of smoke going in different directions. I didn't care and peddled as fast as I could back home and ran inside.

There it was live on TV. The Challenger had exploded. I just stood there. Needless to say, I didn't go to work, and it took some time for it too sink in that I actually witnessed this horrible event. How in the heck I managed to choose the time I did too look up, I don't know. Sometimes I wish I never would have. 

Sorry, this isn't eye candy related. Just the discussion of rare occurrences, or whatever one wants to call them, got my mind racing back to that day of days. Apologies for taking things off topic..

[ann]

Wow. Maybe being awestruck isn`t really off-topic . . .  in any case, I`m glad I didn`t see that. I was at the launch of Apollo 13, awestruck by all that power, and feeling the earth tremble and my bones vibrating. Of course we didn`t know then what would happen later.

My closest experience to yours was being in school, as a sophomore in college, at Florida State`s study center in Florence, Italy, on November 4th, 1966, and experiencing first hand the overwhelming flood that has since become legendary.

I`m still amazed that you actually saw the Challenger explosion. That would be really hard to get over, I think.

[William]

57 minutes ago, ann said:

Wow. Maybe being awestruck isn`t really off-topic . . .  in any case, I`m glad I didn`t see that. I was at the launch of Apollo 13, awestruck by all that power, and feeling the earth tremble and my bones vibrating. Of course we didn`t know then what would happen later.

My closest experience to yours was being in school, as a sophomore in college, at Florida State`s study center in Florence, Italy, on November 4th, 1966, and experiencing first hand the overwhelming flood that has since become legendary.

I`m still amazed that you actually saw the Challenger explosion. That would be really hard to get over, I think.

I still too this day think of the school teacher from New Hampshire, the first civilian too have that chance to go into space. January 28th, 2023 will be 37 years. It will always be there, that moment I stopped half way through Marietta (one of many Jacksonville suburbs) too look up. 

[William]

Back on topic...one of my favorite Glass pieces, A cobalt blue Planter's Peanut jar. In the last pic I'm holding a quarter as an example of it's size. Not  a single chip or crack. Something you would have seen back in the 50's and 60's on the drugstore or maltshop counter, etc. Anyone recall seeing these growing up?

 

[William]

Couple of shelves of eye candy 😊

[William]

Moonstone and Amber 👍

[Chad G.]

Man, you're swoopin on that amber, I never see it around here, I wonder why ??

[William]

It's not too close too the original, but it's the first thing I thought about when I saw it. So I had to get a picture! So for the motor enthusiasts and movie buffs, I give you The Hesper, Minnesota version of "Jeepers Kreepers" 😬

[akroorka]

They may have been called "Suburbans". Cool truck!

[Chad G.]

On 10/11/2022 at 9:18 AM, William said:

It's not too close too the original, but it's the first thing I thought about when I saw it. So I had to get a picture! So for the motor enthusiasts and movie buffs, I give you The Hesper, Minnesota version of "Jeepers Kreepers" 😬

When I was a kid everyone wanted a panel to turn into a hot rod