Jaben thought about his visit with the Weatherbys. He called to apologize
and explain why they wouldn't all be able to come then to talk in person, and
they gave him -- unasked-for, undeserved -- a thousand dollars in traveller's
cheques. He was very happy for the money. The friends had plenty of equipment
from their other adventures, but money was tight, and he hadn't known where it
was going to come from. Perhaps Bear.
When he finished packing the van, it contained:
Children's toys: a truck, a doll, a top...
Thaddeus's .22 competition rifle.
A small box of ammunition.
Gun cleaning supplies.
A large box of MREs, military rations ("'Meal Ready to Eat' is three lies
in one," a marine had told them, but they'll keep you moving).
Books:
The Bible, in four different translations (one Spanish, one French, and two
English).
Madeline l'Engle's A Wind in the Door, the very first book (besides
the Bible) that he thought of to bring along. (He identified very strongly
with Charles Wallace.)
Jon Louis Bentley's Programming Pearls, for serious thinking about
programming.
Jerry Mander's Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television.
When Jaben first saw this book sitting atop a television, he thought, "The
author could only think of four?" For that, he found this book to be far deeper
than Postman's, and (in thinking about what to pack) thought it would be a good
book to help appreciate nature and Mexico.
A Treasury of Jewish Humor, edited by Nathan Ausubel. Jaben found
Jewish humor to be subtle, clever, and extremely funny, as did Lilianne; the
others were beginning to catch on.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Le Petit Prince, to share with
Sarah most of all.
Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self, which he had read much too
quickly and wanted to peruse, at least in part, to better understand his own
culture.
Philip Johnson's Darwin on Trial. This book, apart from some web
articles, was the first contact he had that changed the way he looked at
academia. He thought there were some arguments to add to the ones in the book,
but he couldn't put his finger on them.
Oliver Sack's An Anthropologist on Mars, to stimulate his mind and
help show him different ways of thinking.
A small box of black pens (which had the most tremendous knack for
disappearing) and a hardcover blank book to write in.
Three climbing ropes.
Four notebooks, three of which were half-filled with miscellaneous
scrawl.
The traveller's cheques.
A heavy-duty, broad-ranging medical kit, including a snakebite kit.
Lanterns.
Kerosene.
Various people's clothing, personal toiletries, etc.
Three large hunting knives, one of which had a serrated back.
A water drum.
Tents, groundcloths, and sleeping bags.
About 50 pounds in batteries.
Seven lantern flashlights.
Six canteens.
Five Swiss Army Knives.
Four pair of binoculars.
Three coils of bailing wire.
Two rolls of duct tape.
Sarah's red bouncy ball.
Jaben packed it in as best he could; the equipment was smaller than it
sounded, and they had a big van. He arranged it like furniture, and then
called the others to come in. They joined hands in prayer, and hit the
road at sundown.