"Beauty confronts us with the requirement that we place ourselves among...the redeemers, the leaders in the protection of life. Once you have seen the bush on fire, you are not going to get out of the assignment unless you close your eyes to the beauty.... [You] either have to close your eyes or go back to Egypt and set the people free." - Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, "Rising to the Challenge of Our Times"

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Next Voyage of the Kon-Tiki

Construction is nearing completion on this amazing feat of Scandinavian engineering, made possible through the generous assistance of my 'sponsors' and several hours of labor donated by my friend Lisa who put the frame together. Here you see I have completed one half of the support slats, a model otherwise known as the "Sultan Laxeby" (I prefer to call it the Kon-Tiki). Please note that each one of those pieces of wood, and each plastic connector, and each slider that adjusts the stiffness of certain sections (center of the photo) was disconnected from its neighbors when it arrived. Actually the plastic connectors are joined in sets of 3, so that helped.  While not quite ready for full launch, I was able to sleep on this half with my Therma-Rest air mattress last night and found it significantly more comfortable than the floor. A truly good night's sleep is visible from the deck.