11 Jun Danby Imperial Marble…the source.
A beautiful, early October morning. Inspiration for me to begin blogging again. I am working on a project that requires new counter tops for a kitchen and I was invited by the contractor to visit the Danby quarry and hand select the pieces we will use. Really? Me + Field Trip = Excited!!!
Because this is a big and serious operation, I was forced to contain my jubilee in front of the hard hat wearing men and quarry master especially. I was twitching with anticipation until I was handed a brass tag and a self survival oxygen kit. In the event of a mine collapse I would be able to survive with the small can of oxygen and if I did indeed perish, they could identify me by the round, brass tag with the number “199” on it. Great.
Cold, clammy, grey and gritty inside….I could not help but feel grateful for the men that unearth these beautiful masses and slice them up like loaves of Wonder bread with precise Italian machinery. So sexy. Hmm, did I want this piece, or that. These or those? Thousands of choices. Self control sunk in and decisiveness took over, I had a job to do. Pick. Just pick. And that’s what I did…two beautiful slabs of Danby Imperial, which will live in a house perched on Stratton Mountain, not far from its source. Outside the quarry were hundreds of blocks of marble already spoken for…ready to be picked up and shipped all around the world. Little old Vermont…marble and cheese. Pretty great, right? And lucky, lucky me.
I was twitching with anticipation