first firing

Today I was reminded of the first year I moved to Seagrove little things kept popping up in my head all day long, part of it was the obvious connection, building the kiln and the first firing its a big deal a real milestone and part of it has to do with the great community we have here.
When I first opened up the shop one of the first potters that stopped in was Tom Gray what a big help he was. Firing the kiln tonight i stated thinking about the first night firing and Tom giving me a hand so as he said " didn't screw up the hole load". My kiln is a slight variation of Tom's mostly I took his advice and made changes to the design of his kiln and then I have made a few of my own in the rebuilding this time.
Well i had to call on Tom again with this firing I knew what I was doing now but wouldn't you know it my pyrometer crapped out at about 1500 degrees so I gave tom a call and he loaned me his for the day... Thats one of the great things about the seagrove you can always count on your neighbors here.
There are lots of other thoughts I have about the firing today, seagrove and every thing thats been going on lately but I'm tired now maybe I'll add some latter, for now thanks Tom!!
I'll leave you with a few images of the firing at night..... goodnight all