We were aiming to get it all together in time for Nicole and Steve's visit on July 21 and we made it. The following photos show overall shots from the Mauka side (front facing the mountain) and the makai side (facing the ocean).

    Babu worked through Sunday the 16th finishing baseboards, window, skylight and door trimming and setting the new front entryway door. He completed his work with a few dump runs, 6 months to the day from when he started the project. It was a joy to work with him and we hope it was a joy for him to work with us. A photo of the front entry is shown next

    Karen, Wes, our painter, and I finished staining the pavilion's timbers, brushing polycrylic (water based polyurethane) on both the timbers and the cedar walls and ceiling, and applying teak oil to the cedar window slats by Monday the 17th. On Monday morning the electricians came in to mount the lighting fixtures, outlets and switches. By Wednesday power had been hooked up to the new circuit breaker panel and we were electrified. Above each of the 7 benches is a 4 ft. track with two low voltage high intensity halogen light fixtures, for a total of 14, controlled by a dimmer. A second and third dimmer control two 6 ft. tracks with their own halogen lamps, one over the platform and one behind the free standing wall. A fourth dimmer controls the central globe light. These lights are crystalline in quality and the effects that can be achieved through dimming are wonderful. The entry hall also has tracks and wall sconces and imaginative fixtures were chosen for the bathroom. 

    On Tuesday the carpet layers came in and spent the day laying the beautiful moss green plush carpeting, a job made difficult by the shape of the room and the bench risers, seats and backs. The finished job came out spectacularly, matching the stone flooring and the paint colors of the entryway while giving a beautifully warm feeling to the now glowing pavilion. The photos do not do the room justice and are not true to the real colors but here they are. The first is a composite panorama (with buhbuh in the scene) and the second is a single shot with a similar view:

    The next shot shows the flexible platform in its extended configuration covered, with the air mattress and linens in place ready as a guest room and the last shot shows the skylight and central globe fixture:
 

    While the carpet was being laid, and continuing through Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning (the kids weren't due in till after 2:00PM) Wes continued painting the bathroom, the front entry door, the entry hall and the entry hall cabinets while I fitted the door knobs and latches to all the interior doors and mounting the bathroom towel bars. Karen was busy furnishing the place with towels, shower curtains and linens.

     The next two photos feature the entry hall with a close-up of the finished Rocky Mountain Quartzite stone floor (Our stone floor layers were real artists and it is worth noting the consistently thin grout lines achieved through cutting the stone):

       
 
    The final few photos show the bathroom. The bathroom can be configured in two ways. First, when the pavilion is used as a guest room, the bathroom can be accessed directly from the pavilion, with the hallway door kept locked. The first photo is a peek through this open pavilion door and gives a nice view of the shower curtain. Secondly, the bathroom can be accessed from the entry hall as a general use bathroom for visitors. The second photo is a view into the bathroom from the open hall door. The third shot is a close-up of the sink area, which is surrounded by mirrors (not well shown).

    We hope you've enjoyed this step by step presentation of THE PAVILION PROJECT, I enjoyed presenting it. Of course the real work was in creating the real world space with the virtual reality space as a nice adjunct. We hope that many of our friends and mishpuchah (family) from the mainland can come visit us in Hawaii and stay as a guest inside this lovely creation.

    We know that most of our friends on the Big Island will be coming to future gatherings at our home, which we now can accommodate in this grand room. It can serve as a party room with space for musicians and dancing, as a dining room for the several large sit-down dinners we have during the year, as an instruction or meditation room and as a meeting room for the many talks and presentations we host. In fact, Doctor Lennie Laskow will be a guest speaker at our next Cutting Edge Symposium meeting on Wednesday August 2 to be held in the new pavilion. So, beginning with this function, we hope the new pavilion can also be used for gatherings and talks given by other groups we are affiliated with: New Thought Center, Kona Beth Shalom, Karen's Art classes, and the Zen Center of Hawaii. After being in the room, we think you'll agree, that it is a space that warmly welcomes the spirit in each of us.

    Thanks for tuning in and we'll be seeing or speaking to you soon.

    SHALOHA....... MORTY, KAREN & BUHBUH