how not to make a fire using a bow drill

Wednesday night was a beautiful night.  Caleb had a library book that he was reading that told how to build a fire using the bow drill method.  Matt thought we should give it a try!  

 Caleb and Alissa looked long and hard for just the right materials. Matt helped them with the first steps.  As the final step in preparing the tools, he had to use a knife to make some sort of something (how is that for specific?!) in a piece of wood.

 Unfortunately, while using a pocketknife, he didn't realize that his thumb had pushed down on the lever that allowed the blade to close.  He ended up making a huge slice in his finger and there was a big bloody mess.  That was the end of that project! So, we will never know if we could or could not have started a fire with a bow drill.

I bandaged Matt's finger with my eyes partially closed (and then had a stomach ache for the rest of the night. ugh.) and we all prayed for him.  It is still sore but seems to be healing just fine!