Hi folks,

A group of eBayers who've now moved to etsy to sell some of their art have formed a blog, called CaaT ~ Complementary Art and Things. Or, more accurately, I should say that their fearless leader, Katey (aka blueyeduck) established the blog, and gradually each member will have one post dedicated to introducing him or her.

My intro is up! Also, there are two wonderful artists who are on there in the first two posts. So stop by and take a look.

On another matter...I have to have an ultrasound of my thyroid tomorrow. There is a nodule on it. Chance of thyroid cancer is only around 5%, and, to be honest, that diagnosis would feel rather anticlimactic at this point. I haven't been thinking about it much.

I did some actual yard work today, getting a pretty large part of the back yard raked. The area where we'll have our veggie garden and where I'll build my three course labyrinth is now clear.

In case you don't know what a labyrinth is, here's a picture of a seven-course one, the famous Cretan labyrinth.


I had wanted to build a seven-course, but I couldn't convince myself that there was enough room to make the paths large enough without going to the edge of the yard, beyond which is a 60-or-so-foot fall to the brook in the gorge. So I'll have to be contented with a three-course, the smallest. You can see another famous one by searching on the Chartes Cathedral labyrinth, which is in Chartes Cathedral below the main floor.

The purpose of a labyrinth is a sort of walking meditation. One must be mindful of the path itself, of the journey. As you can see, this type of labyrinth is not a maze; there are no 'wrong' paths to take. The walker simply follows the path as it winds around, until the center is reached. The walker may choose to stay in the center for a while and do whatever he or she desires. Then s/he turns and walks back out again, re-emerging into the world. I plan to take a small stone in with me each time I walk it, to replace the cairn I built when we lived in Hebron.

More than one person can walk a labyrinth at the same time. It is simply necessary to be mindful and considerate of others when doing so.

Besides the mindfulness that labyrinth-walking produces, it also tends to provoke a feeling of going deeper and deeper inside. Some have said that they can solve a problem by using a labyrinth. In any case, I do think that going deeper, reaching the depths, and returning to the outside world is a subtle psychological journey that can be used as an effective spiritual practice.

In my research, I found an interesting rectangular shaped labyrinth that I would like to adapt to build next to the three-course one. It has two centers, and it immediately occurred to me that the two sides with their two centers were the life walk and the death walk. I hope to finish these while I'm still well, so I can walk them throughout the summer months and into the fall.

I will post pictures as I work. I haven't decided for sure what building materials I'll use. I have a lot of red arkose stones from Manchester, Connecticut, that I'd like to use as the walls, and I'm thinking of dark brown mulch for the paths. But I may change my mind before I start to build.

Well, I've rattled on long enough.

With metta,
May