bollards and batteries

we arrived at kwa thema just before lunchtime. it seemed strange to come empty handed – in comparison to yesterday - but we had left some supplies at mr cindy’s house so we had all we needed. we were still guarding the rotary drill, lent to us by fischer, with our lives so it went everywhere we went!

the anc volunteers were gathered around the central space and as we approached, we spotted 82 second-hand tyres that they had very diligently hauled to the site. we were overwhelmed by the quantity! as we began to mark the positions of the tyre bollards, we realized that the entire area where we had imagined them to go was in fact tarred! this would mean a huge amount of labour-intensive digging. and so we amended our previous bollard conceptions to suit the hard conditions. the tyres are to be stacked, 3 high, and filled with site rubble, which we had imagined would never be entirely removed in time for the launch. the tyre towers are then going to be painted and planted with a grass top.

drilling for the balusters commenced and after many-a-change-of-battery, gareth stepped down from the ladder just after 2pm. after a cheap russian roll and chips from lizzy’s catering, we once again reviewed hannah’s suggestions. we consulted mr cindy and stan about our revised ideas for the balustrade – their supposed non-understanding about our intentions led to their response, “i think it’ll be fine.”

we walked out to the north of the building, tip-toeing around rubbish, to examine the concrete slabs around the structure. gareth, catherine and guy passed some time in the central space, kicking tyres about – the noise echoed and clouds of dust mushroomed.

following sab’s reluctance to associate their beer crates with children, we decided to pursue the softdrink crate route. the crates are in fact more transparent and as a result will make a far less definitive screen. the next step of course, is to acquire 130 of them!

we left the site after hanging some mattress springs from one of the column bays, just north off the central space. the 3-dimensional quality of the springs was beautiful – the light and shadows esoteric. they coils framed the views. we decided we would erect 2 more in the upper bays and let them sway in the gusts of our blustery site.

children gathered to watch the tyre towers being assembled by the volunteers. they perched on the concrete slab with their milk-bottle push cars beside them. we gathered our belongings and headed to the car.

in the park south of the library, we spotted some kite fliers and stopped. the wind was belting. the wool cords taught and the danger-tape tails swooshing around furiously. catherine approached them and explained our saturday kite-making workshop. they said they would be there. and again we began the torturous journey to johannesburg – the sun setting below the extent of our sun-visors, our hands filthy and eyes heavy.