Treasure hiding in China

We have applied to participate in the Infinity Project while on our trip to China. The Infinity Project is a project sponsored by glass artist Josh Simpson. This is an involved explanation of how we came to meet Josh, so try to follow along.

Many moons ago, K's family lived in Morgantown, WV while his father was working on his Ph.D. They became friendly with a man who made Shaker furniture. They purchased a beautiful cherry rush-woven rocker from him. When K and I first got married, we really wanted a rocker just like that one, but alas, it was not in our budget at that time. By the time we could afford to splurge on it, the price had risen considerably again, but throwing caution (and budget) to the wind, we ordered one anyway.

Anyway, by this time, the chairmaker was living in California. When we called to order the chair, we asked about shipping arrangements, which of course added to the cost significantly. He said that if we could wait until the fall, he would be in New England for some furniture shows and we could pick it up from him.

When he came to New England, he invited us to meet him at the home of a friend of his, Josh Simpson, where he was staying for a few nights. "Josh is a glassmaker," he said, "and he's giving tours of his studio this weekend, so come out, take a tour, grab your chair..." So, out to western MA we drove for a beautiful fall drive. When we arrived, our chair was sitting out on the lawn under a big tree. It was gorgeous! Here's a pic of it today...

Now, imagine our surprise when we take a tour of this PHENOMENAL studio - very impressive! Josh is known for making "planets" that look like this one:

Some of them are as small as quarter-diameter marbles. Some were larger than softballs. And a few approached the size of a basketball. They are truly stunning and no two are alike. It was fascinating to learn how he even makes the little threads of glass that make their way into his planets.

After the tour, we are invited into their house to eat. We eat in their beautiful dining room chairs, all made by the furniture-maker, who bartered them for some of Josh's work. We meet Josh's new bride (they had only been married a week at the time). They tell us that she flies, and they had their small plane over near our place a few nights before for an evening flight. I notice that she's wearing a NASA golf shirt, but hey, a lot of people visit the Kennedy Space Center on vacation, right? She talks about flying for her job. I ask her what she does for a living, and I never expected to hear what came out of her mouth next...she said, "Oh, I'm a space shuttle astronaut!" How cool is that?!?!?! Her name is Cady Coleman, and she's been on two missions thus far. (No, she is not the astronaut in the news this week!) Here's a picture of her, and this is a link to her biography.

Anyway, Josh has been the subject of at least two PBS specials. You can see his work here, and you really should take a peek...it's amazing stuff! We have two of his planets, a medium-sized marble and a larger one (maybe 2/3 the size of a baseball).

The Infinity Project was something that he did for the year 2000. He asked people to apply to get a small planet from him - actually, you get two planets - one to keep and one to hide. You are supposed to hide it in a cool place. We thought that we could put one in somewhere in the Great Wall or in Tiananmen Square or the Forbidden City. We sent an application and heard back today that the committee meets regularly and we should hear soon. You can read more about the Infinity Project on his website and see a photo scrapbook of places where people have hidden their planets.