Posts Tagged ‘labyrinth’
Photo Essay
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winter snow sunlight afternoon shadows at Wintervale
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Taking Steps
The weather gives, and the weather takes away. After a couple of days with high winds, limited visibility, and repeated doses of accumulating snow, we received a gift on Sunday of blue sky and warm temperatures. We headed down to the labyrinth to reclaim it from days of blowing snow.
I had just walked the labyrinth wearing snowshoes last week, to clearly define the route, but now it was filled in to the point of being difficult to discern. It looked like it had been neglected for most of the winter. I made it most of the way through before finally getting fooled and taking a misstep. Actually, I just went a step too far before making one of the u-turns.
When we started into the effort yesterday, the snow was powdery, but in a very short time it became very sticky. That made our work a bit more taxing, and soon we were shedding layers in the heat of our second January thaw.
I hope that doesn’t sound like a complaint. It was magnificent.
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Snow Promised
The daytime temperatures here have been above freezing the last few days, but the precipitation that is moving across our region has fallen mostly as snow. The warm days are forecast to change on Thursday, when the temp is expected to drop into the single digits. It will stay in the single digits, even for the warmest point of the following days, through the entire weekend. Before that excitement arrives, we might get up to 7 inches of new snow.
With that in mind, I took some time to shovel the labyrinth last night in hopes of creating a more obvious path so it will be visible even if we get a half-foot of snow. I love how the pattern becomes more obvious with the snow. I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish before dark, so I stopped part way to take a picture.
It is inspiring me to try to make significant gains next summer getting the path well-defined, because it makes such a difference in the experience when you don’t need to think about the route along the way, and can, instead, focus your thoughts on the contemplative journey you have chosen. Having snow to very visibly define the pathway has showed me how valuable that is.
I’m thinking it won’t be feasible to keep shoveling down to the ground as the snowfalls get deeper and deeper through the winter. I would need to build walls of snow between each path, because there is nowhere to put the snow that is shoveled. I’m hoping to be able to just trod the path after each subsequent accumulation, now that I have established the base that defines the route.
It might be a snowshoe exercise, although I’m not sure it is wide enough for them to fit very well.
After I finished shoveling the whole thing, I took a picture, holding the camera up into the darkness. If you look close, you can see that the snowfall for the next phase of precipitation had already started.
I’m ready. Go ahead, let it snow!
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Single Digits
We received a bit of snow on Thursday night, and this morning temperatures are in the single digits. My usual ease with facing the extreme cold of winter has waned as I age, but I was pleased to find that adjustment came quickly for me, as I began clearing the driveway up by the house. In no time, I was removing my jacket and finding an easy balance of comfort in the cold, while involved in activity.
Sure, it feels cold if you just step out and stand still in the frigid air. What a great excuse to do something productive, or at least, entertaining!
After I finished the driveway, I walked with Delilah down to the labyrinth to make tracks along the pathway in hopes of establishing the route in snow so it will remain obvious throughout the winter. It was a delightful experience to be the first one to trek through the snow, enjoying the rare opportunity to see where I have been, in contrast to the portion that lay ahead.
Delilah has a bit too much energy to be limited to staying on the path, so she wasn’t much help with tromping down the trail. Plus, the arrival of snow has ramped up her energy immensely, as she gleefully celebrates the white stuff that has turned her outdoor world into a whole new playground experience.
Unfortunately, today dawns with new restrictions for our animals, as the deer hunting season has begun, and the woods all around us will be filled with the sounds of gunshots. The unbridled romping will be severely constrained for the next two weeks.
Cyndie reported that this morning, the two elder horses of our herd were stoically standing posts facing in opposite directions and were barely willing to suspend their surveillance to partake in the morning feed. They sense that the predator/prey operation is underway.
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Tree Transplant
We took a break yesterday from focusing totally on the barn and paddocks, and put our energies toward furthering the creation of the labyrinth garden. The big milestone that we finally achieved is the planting of a tree in the center. This is something that I have been visualizing for a long time. Originally, we talked about choosing a young tree from somewhere on our property, but then Cyndie brought home a couple of trees from a nursery and we considered using one of those.
At the last minute –in fact, just as we were setting one of the purchased trees in the hole we had dug– we both decided we’d rather try one from our property. I’m very happy we had the same thought about this, because it would have been a challenge to navigate a difference of opinion on the subject. Selecting and digging up our own tree did mean a fair amount of additional work, but with both of us equally invested in the decision, it became a joint labor of love.
Hoping we wouldn’t end up with a “Charlie Brown-style” tree after we extricated it from the woods, we set about trying to find and save as many roots as possible, navigating around some much bigger roots of surrounding trees, and one huge rock that was buried directly beneath the specimen we picked. About two-thirds into a project like this, I start wondering if we bit off more than we could chew, but that adds good drama to the adventure which brings greater euphoria when success is achieved.
Together we triumphed over the extrication, getting ourselves covered with dirt, and rushed the patient to the waiting hole just behind center of the labyrinth. In about a hundred years, I hope this little tree looks as gnarly and noble as the giant maple tree that towers over the spot from which he was moved.
With the new tree in place, we had fresh incentive to finish off creating definition of the center space and placing rocks to clearly mark the rest of the pathway. We changed some things around the perimeter, found a new location for the purchased trees, and mowed the entire length of the path.
We spent almost the entire day down there, and I got the impression that we could do the same, every single day, adding the touches we have in mind, and never get around to doing anything else around here. Like most art projects, it is hard to decide when it is done. Happily, this project will always be an ongoing one, growing and changing, so I won’t worry myself with the decision of whether it’s done or not.
It will always be growing.
Evening Excitement
There was a little excitement in the Wintervale house last night, after Cyndie and I got back from working on the labyrinth garden. Actually, Cyndie was still down watering the plants when Delilah and I came back to the house. I was getting ready to shower and spotted a bat flying circles around our spiral staircase. I turned on some lights hoping I could keep an eye on him, and stepped into the garage to grab a broom.
The cats were visibly interested, but basically useless as predators. I thought it was going to be up to me, except the bat had landed and was now out of sight. Since Delilah appeared to be totally focused on her food and water, I decided to get the shower out of the way. When I came out, I heard Delilah’s bark and figured the bat was airborne again. Cyndie had returned and figured out there was a bat, so I pointed out the broom, and reported sighting the critter perched on a beam.
Cyndie took over from there, drawing on her years of experience evicting bats from the cabins over the years at the lake place up in Hayward. She grabbed a small step-ladder, and conked him to the floor. By this time, Pequenita was showing interest in finishing him off, but Cyndie would have none of that, and bagged the remains for disposal.
Order was restored. The labyrinth continues to gain definition, and we again filled every last moment of the day. Before the sun got too low, I walked the trail we worked to clear on Monday, hoping to get some better pictures with my camera, instead of my cell phone. Here are a few…
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Home Again
photo by Elysa Hays
We made an early exit from the balloon toss competition this year. Elysa snapped this photo, in which I am holding up the remnants of our water balloon. Cyndie made a perfectly good throw, but I messed up the catch. Somebody immediately hollered that it was a classic example of farmer’s hands, since I didn’t execute the soft catch required.
We endured some long traffic backups on the drive home yesterday, due to the heavy volume of holiday traffic. I plan to do some exploring in the future, for the possibility of using back roads to avoid the areas where a turn causes a log jam of vehicles to accumulate.
Our cats didn’t seem to hold a grudge against us for having left them alone, and immediately sought as much hands-on attention as we were willing to give. It appears we won’t have to worry about leaving them alone for a weekend.
We decided to give our attention to the labyrinth for the rest of the day. I used our old reel mower to cut the turf at the lowest setting, while Cyndie did some weed pulling and trimmed the long grass around the perimeter. Then I measured and marked the last of the areas where Cyndie wants to do some planting, along the axis where the entrance is located.
The essential steps that remain after that are, laying markers to establish all the lanes, and putting down some gravel or wood chips on the path. Optionally, we are still considering planting a tree near the middle, and we are hoping to do a bit more work dressing up the grounds immediately surrounding the labyrinth. Cyndie would like to make a bench out of found natural materials, to be located near the entrance, allowing for a moment of pause before embarking on the journey.
Something tells me there will be a permanent urge to continue to refine and enhance the whole thing. It will likely always be a growing and changing space, which will be a reflection of our growth and change with the passing of time.
Banner Day
We had a banner day of progress at Wintervale yesterday. I got home from the day-job early and immediately changed into grubby clothes to go out and work. We have had enough days in a row without new rainfall that I felt emboldened to bring out the big tractor and try knocking down the overgrown grass in and around the paddocks. It went as well as I could expect, only getting into a bit of a muddy mess, two times.
I had enough success that I decided to try cutting a path around the back toward the location of our labyrinth. If that was dry enough, I could take a shot at moving the boulders that have resisted all previous attempts. Cyndie was quick to join me there. She has been wishing for these rocks to be moved everyday since we gave up the last time. Yesterday turned out to be our day.
It took a lot of tries, but we ultimately triumphed over the task. We got the keepers stood up and positioned, and the discards have been removed. This opens up the door for us to finish laying out the path from the entrance to the center.
Here’s hoping the progress of finally getting the boulders where we want them, will motivate us to get the rest of it done without allowing too many interruptions to interfere.
Snow Again?!
We are three weeks into April, and still, this morning, it is snowing. I called our fence contractor yesterday, to check on his status, since it was predicted to be a clear and sunny Saturday. He has enlisted a crew to build our hay shed, and they were going to work weekends. I wasn’t surprised there wasn’t anyone here, since we had just come out of a blast of a winter storm on Thursday and Friday, which kept both Cyndie and me home from work on Friday.
He confirmed that it was just too wet to do anything down there now. He knew what he was talking about. Cyndie and I wanted to continue on a project to move the eagle statue, and the rock landscaping beneath it, in preparation of digging out a berm next to the barn. We need to create a path to drive the tractor around the back side of the barn, now that the front side is being fenced off with paddocks.
It was both too wet, and too frozen, if that makes any sense. Snow from above was melting, and running down around the area we were tromping, and the further we progressed in moving rocks, the more rocks we came to that were still frozen in place.
We changed plans. Next on the wish list was creating a labyrinth. We had a general idea where we wanted the labyrinth to be located, and had reviewed a variety of layouts. Next step was to physically measure the area, and see if we the idea in our heads would fit the reality of the place we want it to be.
Last fall, when the fence guys were ripping out the old barbed wire fencing that existed when we bought the place, they also cleared out a lot of brush, and turned up a few boulders. We asked them to move the rocks back to the area where we were thinking the labyrinth might be created.
The spot where they put them ended up being about 12 inches off of the center point we calculated yesterday. We used some of the metal fence posts they had pulled out, to create a circumference, placing a final one at the center point. Cyndie ran a fluorescent pink string around the circle. We plotted and measured, and are feeling very confident that our joint vision is viable. The project is a go.
That is, it will be a go, if it ever stops snowing, and dries out enough to navigate our property without fear of stepping into a bottomless sink-hole of muddy soup.
Relative Something 