“The journey goes down, not up...It’s as if the mountain pointed toward the center of the earth instead of reaching into the sky.” –Pema Chodron, “When Things Fall Apart” p.91
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| 43" Deep at end of Day 4 |
DAY 4: Mostly sunny, high 70’s, humidity in the mid-50’s. Still good weather for digging.
I removed three more inches of dirt today to a hole-level of
43”. Standing inside the cylinder of space, I can now comfortably stretch out
my arms along the rim. I love this punch-hole in the landscape that simply
drops straight down from an innocent green lawn.
I encountered a bumper crop of big marble rocks today that
were difficult to remove, hoist up and out, so I shoveled some of the excavated
dirt further away from the rim. A mountain of soil had steadily built up along
the sides of the hole mirroring the volume of empty space. Throwing new dirt
over this mound was becoming too difficult. I also spent some time straightening the existing sides of
the hole so they remain vertical.
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| Birch trees for ladder making |
I inspected birch saplings on the Carving Studio grounds
that are being removed to create sites in the woods for the other SculpFest
installations.
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| Eva helps me carry the saplings |
Eva, a sculptor from Philadelphia helped me
trim and carry two of the baby trees to the hole site. My plan is to create a ladder
from boughs and leafy branches that will emerge from the hole–probably in week
three.
Thoughts: I am
aging. This shoveling is exciting, but exhausting. Like knitting, quilting or
walking, the job gets done rhythmically, methodically, patiently, little by
little. Digging this hole is a
journey inside.
I leave you, tonight with four more drawings of imaginary
holes.
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| Yin-Yang Holes-topview |
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| Two holes and four entrances -sideview of tunnels |
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| Hole with stones in the soil-sideview |
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| Multiple holes with spiral entrance-sideview |
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