Several years ago, while driving on an infinite highway in the Central Valley of California, I looked to my right at the mesmerizing flickering of sunlight between the endless and perfect rows of almond trees. Suddenly I saw a breech in the pattern and a still and serene beam of light reached out from the orchard and met my gaze. Instantly I understood. I saw in my mind's eye what I needed to create. A labyrinth. One that had the power to heal and inspire, one that could serve as a meeting place of mind and spirit...
You must know, I am not a person "prone" to visions or celestial transmissions. I am a farmer and a doctor and generally, my feet are firmly planted on this earth and I take pride in being a practical, reasonable, nerdy-type person. So, when I came home that evening and announced to my husband that I had had a "vision", he raised his eyebrows and offered a therapeutic glass of wine.
For the next 2 years I poured over literature on healing spaces and traditions, labyrinths, gardens, the neuroscience of beauty and the impact of nature on the soul. I pinned my designs and scribbles to my bedroom wall and my husband scratched his head in wonder at this expanding gallery.
Finally, once back on our farm in New Hampshire, we readied several acres and I started to align my labyrinth design with rock formations, trees and the cardinal directions. Next came several back-breaking months of laying the walkway. And finally, in May 2020 we connected the last circuit. It was as if electricity flowed through the system...
Then, like in a fever dream, the meadow flowers and grasses called to be planed. I laid the seeds down over the snow this winter, so they would awaken in their own time.
I can see the cone flowers, the coreopsis, the cosmos and asters peeking over sweet grasses. I can hear the birds, the buzzing insects and the frogs by the pond. I invite you to come and explore the labyrinth yourself. No longer a figment of my imagination.
