Planets on the Ceiling

'Eise, move those planets out of the way!' Pietsje sounds irritated. 'I asked you to tidy up your things and you were supposed to put Trijntje in the high chair! You said you wanted to quickly finish something.. But the food has been sitting on the stove for half an hour now!'

'Yes, yes.. I'm doing it now..' Eise reluctantly starts tidying up his things. The inkpot, the pen and the scissors are put away in the table drawer. Then the notes go into the wallet with green ribbons. The paper circles and rings, finally, are carefully placed in an envelope.

All afternoon Eise has been shifting and turning his cut-outs at the table. Right after lunch he had said he wanted to work something out. But from the moment his things came out on the table, Eise hasn't left his spot. 'Why do you have to make it so difficult for yourself?' Pietsje had asked him. But he had only answered 'That's why'.

At first Pietsje thought her husband wanted to make a modest table model.

For months now Eise had been using every free moment to work out the plans for his planetarium. At first Pietsje thought her husband wanted to make a modest table model. But soon Eise had started talking about a continuously moving system; powered by a grandfather clock.

Even then Pietsje hadn't really understood what lay ahead of her. She had asked Eise how that would work once the children got older. After all, she couldn't keep watch over that delicate device all the time.. But to her horror, Eise had looked at her reassuringly and said: 'You don't have to. I'm going to build it all into the ceiling!'

In disbelief, Pietsje had exclaimed: '..An entire starry sky!? Here.. In my room?' And once again Eise had calmly and in all seriousness answered: 'No, don't worry. Just our solar system. And a couple of clocks..'

By now Eise has cleared all his things from the table. Now he's putting his papers away in the front room. Meanwhile Pietsje puts daughter Trijntje in the high chair. The food is on the table and she looks around the room. Soon her husband will be done with his calculations. How much longer will it be before he puts the saw to the ceiling?