Somewhere Else

~ A New Carousel of Happiness Project ~

Hippasus, a Greek philosopher who lived around 500 B.C., made an astonishing discovery, that within a dodecahedran, a 12-sided structure, could be found irrational numbers. No one at that time, including the famed mathematician Pythagoras, believed that this type of irrationality was possible, and for his efforts, one legend has it, Hippasus was drowned at sea by the gods. Not knowing this history of 12-sided structures, we designed the carousel house as a dodeconal prism, and sure enough, have also found irrationality within. One section, an 11-foot-high, 14-foot-wide wall, may in fact be a kind of portal to somewhere else. So that is what we now call it: “Somewhere Else.”

We are creating animals that seem to be traveling to and from Somewhere Else. We do not know more about what is happening and will count on others, perhaps you, to explain it.

Here is what we know:
Two long steps have been placed leading into the wall. Sitting on the steps is a large chimpanzee who seems to be pondering life. We call him The Chimpanzee of Our Troubles and invite folks to sit next to him and let him take their cares away.

Soon you will see . . .
-a dog, a very special dog named Oberon, who once was the honored guest of the carousel and the subject of his own party, is on the top step. He has passed into Somewhere Else and then paused to look back as if to ask, “Coming?”

-a large polar bear, reaching high up, gives a bear cub to a grizzly bear
who is on the other side and whose big arms and hands are reaching
down to accept the happy young traveler. It has been recently discovered
that polar bears and grizzlies can cross breed, so this offspring is known as a Prizzly (We may even call him Elvis.) Perhaps he shares time with a parent on each side.

-a small penguin is seen fleetingly as she disappears into the wall on her way somewhere. Above her a mallard flies calmly into the carousel house.

-a giraffe takes advantage of his long neck, keeping his feet firmly planted on the other side, while he peers into the carousel house and then around to gaze at the folks who look in from outside the building.

We cannot tell you for certain what is happening here; truly we do not know. But we can invite you to join us as a part of this unique project. The large wall is covered with a drape during the year-long project, but we will share images and thoughts on the creation of each animal as they happen on Facebook.

We are inviting folks to become Keyholders of Somewhere Else by contributing to this new addition to the carousel building by donating a tax-deductible gift to the Carousel of Happiness. George Blevins, my friend and the carousel illustrator, and I are donating our time to put this together. 100% of your contributions will go towards making our $30,000 construction debt go away and to helping us keep the cost of a carousel ride to an accessible $1.

Suggested levels of giving for Keyholders:
(Donors will also receive all the gifts included in previous levels.)

· $25 and above: We will send you the link to our private Somewhere Else blog. Journey with us as the animals are carved and take their places on the wall. I will be sharing photos and stories as I carve each animal.

· $100 and above: The Somewhere Else portal has a void inside, and you will be invited to share something of importance to you or others: a writing, a picture, a poem to a loved one, whatever you wish, that will be placed into one of these spaces to be kept there forever and thus to become an integral part of the magic. In addition, your name will be included on a permanent plaque next to the steps leading into . . . well again, not sure. We will also send you a signed 2013 Carousel of Happiness calendar.

· $1,000 and above: You will receive a plaque with an antique key designating you as a supporter and Keyholder of Somewhere Else.

· $5,000 and above: We will open up the carousel for you and a few friends at night after our regular closing time, when the environment in the building is most surreal. I will personally operate the carousel to the music you bring for about an hour. That will be fun.

When the project is finished, we will have two openings, one for the public and one for the media. But first, we will host a private night for the Keyholders of Somewhere Else when the irrational, the magic of this place, will be celebrated with musicians, poets, fire dancers, and who knows what else. We will make sure it will be an enchanting night and one that you will absolutely never forget.

Want to help make this happen? Send us a check made out to The Carousel of Happiness, with the note “For Somewhere Else” to:
The Carousel of Happiness
PO Box 1811
Nederland CO 80466

I will send you a thank you letter and donation acknowledgement for tax purposes. George and I are extremely excited to help make this happen by spending the next year illustrating and carving the figures. Let’s do it together.

Magic is afoot,

Scott Harrison
Creator of the Carousel of Happiness