I finally got my drill press put together yesterday, and had a blast all afternoon drilling things.

My main goal was to get a little trio of lighting fixtures done. Here they are:

There’s a piece of rebar driven into the ground, and each of the paving stones has a hole drilled through its center. I have probably given myself lung cancer doing it. (I bought dust masks today.)

The white tubes are actually plastic tubes from my wide-format printer at school, i.e., the “poster printer.” It prints on 24″-wide rolls, and these are at the center. It dawned on me that a candle sitting inside one of these would light up the whole tube.

The tubes are sitting in pieces of wood, through which I have drilled enormous holes in the top half, and smaller holes in the bottoms to fit onto the rebar. The number of drill bits I have added to my collection is very impressive.

So now I have these three lights sitting in an attractive little grouping over in the ivy. I’ll test them tonight, and if they’re as lovely as I hope, I can make more.

Yesterday morning there was an enormous branch down off the pecan tree in the First Baptist parking lot. I retrieved it for firewood, but it was doing a nice zen number, so I dragged it out to the middle of the labyrinth for a while:

It is very marvelous at night, when light from the house hits it and it glows dimly white, its fractal probings of the darkness contrasting starkly with the geometry of the labyrinth paths. It reminds me of the White Tree of Minas Tirith, actually.

In the upper right of that photo, you can see what I did today for the most part: haul dirt down the driveway again and build up the northern sweep of the labyrinth. It’s a lot more level now, although you probably cannot tell from the photo. I have some dirt still left over; I may use it to shore up the northern end, or perhaps the western rim. Don’t know yet.

Also today, in the same vein as the light tubes, I built wooden holders for cans of Sterno. These will sit on the little plinths at the ends of the arms of the labyrinths and flame brightly. Until someone is scorched. I’d actually like to built the tower/columsn I’ve discussed previously, and put the flames on top of them. If I could be sure they wouldn’t be knocked against, spilling flaming Sterno on drunken and barefoot labyrintheers.

It is finished.

Notice the holiday votives. I think they’ll be right purty.

Here’s a closeup of the center:

I’ve sunk the bricks into the soil and dug out a little bit of a hole to give the effect.

So, at some point I have to plant grass seed. I’m going to wait until after the rain this week just to see where the water flow issues are.

Tomorrow night I don’t have Masterworks, the dress rehearsal for Thursday’s concert is on Tuesday, so I’ll put together my drill press, finally, and work on some lighting fixtures for the area.

At 11:35 this morning, to the strains of the second movement of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection,” I finished filling in the labyrinth:

I have this much dirt left:

I think I was oversold. However, after lunch I will lay in dirt around the labyrinth so that it actually is part of the landscape rather than rising abruptly from it, and as I’ve mentioned before, shore up the carport. That ought to take the rest of the afternoon.

Here, by dawn’s light, is yesterday’s work:

And here, from the side angle, you can see the northern edge finally complete. I will have to add more dirt around the edges to keep it from collapsing in the rain this week. It feels odd to have it done.

I’m now waiting until 9:00, the time at which I in good conscience can start throwing dirt into the wheelbarrow outside my neighbor’s bedroom window.

There is a distinct possibility that I have too much dirt. The only problem with that is what to do with it to get it out of the driveway today a) so Ginny can park there, and b) it doesn’t turn into mud with the rain predicted for tomorrow. I need to build up the ground next to the carport, so I can probably use all of it there, and the northern edge of the labyrinth can stand a lot more, so I may be OK in terms of having a place to put all of it.

No pictures, because it was too dark when I finished, and the camera’s battery died.

However, I accomplished exactly my goal for the day: fill in the outer three circuits, raise the outer circuit on the north side to the level of the others, and lay out the final course of paving stones.

It’s done. Tomorrow, I fill in the inner four circuits and set the compass point bricks level in the ground with the granite center.

Yesterday afternoon I picked up the granite pieces that form the center of the labyrinth:

After I get all the topsoil laid in, I’ll sink the bricks to the same level as the granite. (The bricks are aligned with the cardinal points of the compass.)

I love the way it reflects the sky. Later I will scoop out a hole in the center, and next summer I will make a bowl to fit in there. It will probably be blue. I like the way the bricks will hang out a little over the bowl (although I haven’t yet thought of a way to make the grooves for the bricks to fit into the bowl, accurate from 225 miles away.)

Here it is in situ:

And finally, this morning, the topsoil was delivered. We ended up dumping it in the driveway:

I began schlepping it to the back yard, after I took a few moments to construct a ramp to get the wheelbarrow down the steps to the level of the labyrinth. It’s lunchtime at the moment, and this is how much I’ve gotten done so far:

I got dirt laid out in the little center gap area, and then started with the path. I’ve done the first circuit, and this afternoon I will start pushing out from there. My goal for today is to get the outer two circuits done, which includes building up the north edge and actually getting the last course of stones laid. I might get some of the central circuits done, but I’m not making that the goal.

In any case, I should be done by Sunday evening.