Day 2 Morning Adventure

Disclaimer: The characters are the property of Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC television. No infringement is intended.

"Come on, Castle. Get up!" Beckett said as she shook Castle.

"Wha … wha … what time is it?" Castle sleepily responded.

"7 o'clock. It's time to get up. Things to do, places to be."

"Beckett, our next adventure is to a place that doesn't open until 9. So there is no rush."

Just then one of their stomachs growled.

"Was that yours or mine?" Castle asked.

"I don't know, but I am hungry." Beckett answered.

"Well, in that case, perhaps I should get moving."

Castle quickly shaved and then showered (disappointed he didn't have company). He followed Beckett down to the breakfast area to have some eggs, bacon and coffee.

After eating breakfast, packing up and checking out, Castle and Beckett were in the car on the road to Castle's planned next destination.

"Are you going to give me any hints, Castle?"

"We aren't far, we're going to Corning."

Castle exited the interstate at the GPS instructions and drove the few blocks to a parking lot. In the center was a glass pavilion that said "Corning Museum of Glass." Inside the pavilion was a desk that said 'Information'. The attendant explained that the shuttle bus would take them to the museum and other points of interest in downtown Corning.

Shortly a shuttle bus arrived and took them to the front door of the museum. They entered the ticket queue and found a display of various glass making projects that could be made with the help of some of the museum artists in residence.

"Oh, Castle, most all of the projects require us to come back tomorrow to pick them up. I have to be back at work tomorrow."

"Maybe we can come back another time to do the projects and sample more wines around the other Finger Lakes."

Castle purchased the two museum package which included the nearby Rockwell Museum. As they entered the glass museum there was a placard describing the various demonstrations occurring at the museum that day. The first one was a glass forming demonstration starting in just a few minutes.

Castle took Beckett's hand in his as they quickly walked past some displays to get to the demonstration area.

"Castle, we can come back to some of these after the demonstrations, okay?"

They arrived near the first demonstration and saw many parents with elementary school age children crowding near the glass booth that the first demonstration would be in.

Finally, the artist entered the booth and started the flame.

"While the flame gets to temperature I should point out the filters you see in front of the booth and also my glasses. These filters allow me to see through the flame to the glass that I am working on," the artist demonstrator explained.

He heated his first rod of glass to get a drooping form and pulled it. Describing each step he was taking forming the glass, he took a tool and pressed the glass to shape the body of a fish. As he went along he would put dollops of softened glass to the fish body and pressed them with a scallop shaped tool to form fins.

He explained that he was using gravity to make the glass flow to artistically modify the scallop pressings into the glass. As he worked it the fins looked like Angel fish fins.

After adding tail fins, a dorsal fin and two pectoral fins to make the fish stand up, he added eyes and a mouth to the a glass fish.

As he completed the fish he continued his monolog.

"Glass heated like this has a lot of stress in it and in a few days just sitting there, the fish would crack or shatter," the artist explained to the children in front. "That is why all the glass work you see here will be put into an oven to do something called 'annealing'. The annealing relieves all the stress in the glass so it won't shatter on its own. The annealing is usually done in about 24 hours."

He set the fish down at the front of the booth for everyone to see, concluding the demonstration.

"He makes it look so easy," Beckett said.

"Yeah, when a person is so good at something they do, they make it look easy. Like figure skaters on TV. They make their movements so effortlessly, it seems like anyone could do it," Castle responded.

"It makes you want to go out to Rockefeller Center and try those things out."

"I saw that picture of you putting on those pink skates, Kate. You were so cute back then."

"Back then?" Beckett looked at him with a twinkle in her eye.

"Back then you were cute. Now you're gorgeous."

"Good save, writer boy."

"You know very well it's writer MAN. But if you need more evidence or maybe a refresher, I would be more than happy to give you another personal demonstration," Castle suggestively retorted. He picked up their entwined hands and kissed her hand.

Beckett rolled her eyes at Castle and then she smiled. She was having a wonderful time with this playful man, this overgrown child. So she couldn't be anything but pleased that she was with him.

Smiling at each other, they walked to the next demonstration area, an area with signs saying "Glass Breaking Demonstration."

"Castle, as clumsy as you are you would be a natural for this demonstration. You wouldn't need any special equipment or anything," Beckett teased.

Castle smiled back at Beckett knowing all too well that her teasing was just a sign of her love for him.

"I love you, too," Castle responded.

As they waited for the next demonstration, they saw displays of the various methods of glass mass production. There were also displays of the types of glass and how temperature affected the glass.

The docent finally came out to start the demonstration explaining the different stresses on glass. She continued showing stresses through a filter that showed different colors indicating stress. Then she showed annealed glass, laminated glass and tempered glass and demonstrated the stresses on them by breaking them.

"Laminated glass," the docent said, "is the kind of glass that is found in your car windshields. Thicker plastic in the middle of the laminated glass is what is commonly known as bullet-proof glass. Even thicker laminated glass can be walked on like that over to your left."

Castle whispered to Beckett, "That is cool how they make bullet-proof glass."

"So nerdy, Castle, so nerdy," Beckett teased back.

The docent finally demonstrated an egg shaped piece of glass. The glass was repeatedly hit with a steel rod but did not break. She explained that the outside cools first and is in compression stress thus strengthening the glass. She then turned it over so that a thin metal rod could be inserted into an opening in the egg shape. She then dropped it on the inside of the egg. The egg shattered immediately.

"This ends our demonstration of breaking glass. I will be around for the next few minutes answering any questions you may have," the docent concluded.

As they walked away, Castle pondered and then spoke, "You know, you in the box is like that last piece of glass."

"How so, Castle?"

"Well, other interrogators can pound on the outside of suspects but they simply can withstand the pressure for a while, like the outside of that egg shaped glass. But you, you know the way to get that opening, to the inside of them, like that rod, and you break them with ease."

"A bit of a stretch, Castle, but I'll take that as a complement."

"Even the best wordsmiths fail occasionally," Castle smiled.

"Oh, well the only wordsmith I am acquainted with is Patterson. Patterson has trouble occasionally?" Beckett kidded.

"Beckett," Castle growled.

Kate put her hands on either side of his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss, silencing Castle.

Further walking around the museum led the pair to a glass blowing demonstration. As they entered the theater for the demonstration, they were each given a ticket for a drawing at the end of the demonstration.

A few moments after sitting down, the demonstration started. There was a narrator, a translator, and a glass artist with their tools. Behind them were some ovens to heat the glass. The artist started by using a metal tube to pull a white hot boule of glass out of one of the ovens. The artist rolled the boule several times in some colored glass, reheating after each time of rolling the boule. Occasionally blowing into the metal tube, the artist was expanding the glass to his desired size. After working with the glass for a while to shape the boule into a bottle, the artist with the narrator transferred the boule to another metal tube to work the other end of the piece. After several turns of the tube on a roller bar to even out the molten glass, the artist used tools to shape the glass into a bowl with a flowerlike edge. Then heating the glass one more time using gravity, the artist got the bowl the shape he wanted. With a small amount of water, the artist and narrator broke the piece free from the metal rod. Holding the piece to show to the audience, the narrator explained that the bowl would now go in the annealing oven overnight. The demonstration concluded with a drawing for one of the pieces completed the day before.

"Well, we didn't win a piece but it was interesting to see the artist at work," Castle said.

"The artist is really talented. The ease that they used the tools. Made it look like anybody could do it, even you Castle," Beckett teased.

They exited the theater and walked to the displays of glass from various ages and places. As they walked through they saw pieces from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia along with pieces of more modern origin.

"Castle, look at this green glass round table."

"Unusual, isn't it?" Castle responded.

Further along they found some stained glass landscapes by Louis Comfort Tiffany. One was a single panel of a sunset with flowers and plants in green, yellow, orange colors. The second was a much larger set of five panels of a lake and mountain in the background with trees and vines in the foreground. The second was even more colorful with the addition of red, violet and blue on top of the green, yellow and orange flower colors.

"I never thought of stained glass with such a color palate. The different hues of yellow and orange almost like each piece of glass was a slightly altered shade."

"He was a very talented artist, wasn't he?" Castle rhetorically asked.

Beckett just smiled back at Castle and then kissed him as if to acknowledge that he was her talented artist and he painted her with words.

Next they came to a window that had aligned triangles and rectangles in stained glass. The sign beside it said it was a window from the "Darwin Martin House" designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

"Not a lot of colors there. Mostly subdued colors. Very straight lined stained glass. And precise. Organized. Orthodox. Hmm."

Castle thought for a moment and then continued in a funny German accent, "We have ways of making you talk."

Beckett rolled her eyes at him, smiling at her man-child.

As they continued through the museum, they came to a pink colored glass work hanging from the ceiling. Reading the placard, it said it is "Erbium Chandelier" by Dale Chihuly.

"It says that the rare-earth element erbium makes it that pink color."

"Beckett, it looks like a sea anemone. Or a hanging plant with pink leaves."

"It says here that each one of the 205 elements was put into a mold that gave the texture and then blown into the shape. Oh, and there is a cupid at the bottom. See the yellowish piece at the bottom?"

"Not my taste but interesting, innovative," Castle said.

The happy couple continued through the museum and then down to the gift shop. All manner of glass works were on display along with the obligatory t-shirts and tote bags. All of them with "CMOG" on them.

"This time, I'll resist Beckett," Castle self-assuredly said.

"Yeah, unlike that time when you bought something from every Eastern European shop in New York we went through."

"I've matured," Castle said puffing out his chest.

Beckett gave him that look.

"Well, maybe a little," he sheepishly followed.

Beckett then gave him a dazzling smile that made his face glow in the reflection. His eyes shone with the love he has for this extraordinary woman. He could almost kiss her, but being in the middle of the museum gift shop, perhaps, in this particular case, discretion was the better part of valor.

Castle took Beckett's hand and said, "Kate, shall we go to the Rockwell Museum?"

"We shall," she responded with a smile.

They exited the shuttle at the next stop. As they approached the museum, Castle noticed a statue buffalo crashing through the brick wall above them. On the façade on either side of the door was "Rockwell Museum of Western Art."

Once inside, Castle asked the attendant at the entrance about the statue. "That is Artimus, the mascot for this museum."

She continued as she handed them a pamphlet on the museum, "The best way to go is to take the elevator to the 4th floor and work your way down the stairs, you can see all of the displays before you return here. The elevator is up this short flight of stairs."

Castle and Beckett went up to the 4th floor to find Native American and other western art. The elevator emptied into a room that attached to a room straight ahead and a large central room to the right. The floor appeared to have several smaller connected rooms making a perimeter around a larger central gallery. They examined some of the Native American artwork in the first room by the elevator and then went on to the second perimeter room.

"Beckett, look at this bronze statue. Hmm, "Pony Express" by Harry Jackson. It looks like a scene from an old western with the good guy being chased by the bad guys."

Castle paused as if thinking, then pulling his best narrator impression, he spoke, "Riding as fast as his trusty horse can go, he shoots back at his pursuers. His important task of getting the mail through hanging in the balance. Will he escape? Will he meet the rough justice of the west? Tune in for the next exciting installment of …"

"Eh hem"

Castle paused looking at Beckett with her hands on her hips, shaking her head.

Beckett could only roll her eyes at him. The writer always had to come up with a story.

"No CIA or aliens, Castle? You're not going with your trusty theories," Beckett teased.

"For your information, the CIA didn't exist back then, Beckett. And there was a recent movie was about aliens. It was called "Cowboys & Aliens" if I remember correctly," Castle smugly retorted. "And it included the current 007, Daniel Craig in it with Bobo Fett's favorite, Han Solo."

"Castle, you seem to be a wealth of useless trivia," Beckett teased as she came up to him and kissed him.

They walked further on the floor and came upon a statue of a Native American on a horse. The rider was bare chested with a headdress and a loin cloth. He was riding the standing stationary horse, his head looking up to the sky, his arms outstretched in supplication. The serenity of the statue made Castle stand in awe of the artist.

"Hey, Beckett, look at this," Castle called her over.

Beckett came over behind the statue. She stood in silence, reverently looking from the statue to her lover. She saw the peaceful smile on his face as he returned her gaze. They came together to hold each other's hand. Castle picked up their joined hands and kissed the back of hers. Breaking eye contact, they continued around the gallery noticing different artworks with Castle making up stories about several of the ones that caught his fancy.

After going through the smaller perimeter rooms, they entered the center gallery. Dominating the gallery was a large painting of 6 ft. by 10 ft. The painting was of an idyllic scene of a waterfall and mountain called "Mt. Whitney" by Albert Bierstadt. The waterfall and lake were in the lower left of the painting. To the right was a stand of trees. In the trees there were partially hidden deer. In the foreground were some logs washed up by the lake beside a meadow that the deer were wanting to graze. Dominating the background at the top was the mountain and clouds brilliantly lit by the sun. A break in the clouds lit the waterfall and the edge of the trees.

There was a bench close to the painting that both Castle and Beckett sat at to gaze at the painting while they continued to connect with their hands. Beckett leaned over to rest her head on Castle's shoulder. Being a Monday, the gallery was relatively empty so they didn't have anyone else nearby to break their delight.

Breaking the silence, Castle said, "Being here, being able to share these things, these experiences with you makes them so much better. Here holding your hand in front of this impressive work of art makes me appreciate you even more. I know it sound hokey and trite but having you here makes me think of how much you are a work of great art to me."

As he kissed her forehead he said, "Seeing this artwork in your glow makes me see how extraordinary you are."

They sat for a few more moments in front of the massive painting and then turned to go down the stairs to the next floor. The stairway emptied into a smaller gallery where there were some bronze statues, pottery in display cases and other artwork on the walls. Castle gravitated to one of the bronze statues pulling Beckett along by their joined hands.

"This must be a Frederic Remington bronze," Castle said as they approached one of the statues. "Yep, this one is called 'The Rattlesnake'. Look at the detail on the snake. You can see the scales and rattle."

They continued to wander the gallery perusing the Native American pottery and statues. As they came back to the stairway, they came to a painting beside the entryway.

"They look cold, don't they Castle?"

"Yeah," Castle responded. Looking at the placard beside the painting, Castle commented, "Hmm, 'The Winter Campaign' by Remington. Quite an artist, wasn't he. Bronze and oils. Very different media."

Beckett nodded.

Hands still entwined, not wanting to break contact, they continued to route through the museum. They saw a collection of revolvers and rifles from the era along with more examples of paintings, pottery and statues. Finally reaching the first floor gallery, they came upon a travelling exhibit by Abraham Anghik Ruben.

"That's a bronze?" Castle exclaimed. "How did he get those colors in there? There are blues, reds and some green tinges."

Castle walked around the piece and then said," 'Odin Shape Shifter' is what this one is called. Wow, Norse God mixed with a Native American style. Cool."

Beckett and Castle continued to navigate through the gallery examining each piece with care.

"Some of these look like totems, don't they? Those smaller carvings into the larger piece. On his arm and leg. 'Shaman's Dreams' is what this one is called," Beckett said as they approached another sculpture.

They wandered the room for a while until someone's stomach growled.

"Hmm, I think that is my cue to get us fed," Castle said.

"Yeah, breakfast seems to have worn off on me," Beckett responded.

"Well, we're right in the middle of town, there must be some restaurants nearby. Let's go."

A/N: Thanks for reading!