Labyrinth Walks 2025

by | Dec 25, 2025 | Labyrinths, Reflections/Profiles

Reflecting on labyrinth walks this year with a link to some of the past.

What Will the Year Bring?

Early in the year, facing low back surgery, I was uncertain how many labryinth walks I would make. It turns out later in the year offered many opportunities.  Here are some I took in this past year.

This past winter’s weather was a dud.  One week of winter with some snow.  But, mostly, cloudy, rain – not snow – and just day after day of waiting.  At least the labyirnth was accessible for me early on.  You can see the burn areas and the tan path to walk.  In February we drove north. The Keweenaw Peninsula had boatloads of snow, so I suppose my snow angel is “cheating” but with their labyirnth under feet and feet of snow, this will do.

We also stopped at Westfield, WI, to take in a labyirnth created by families in memory of a beloved son, son-in-law by the families. This labyrinth is well worth a walk. I hope counselors, pastors, and people in general will walk this wonderful labyrinth especially in these uncertain times.
Below is part of Roger Schmidt’s story he shared. We later talked on the phone.

“Everyday is a Holiday” (Andy Polk)

“Yes it is on the Westfield School Property.  I am quite sure that if school is in session it would be appropriate to go to the office and ask if you need permission.  If it is not a school day you can just park next to it and walk it.  I was the Superintendent at the time it was built and it was dedicated to my son in law who was killed in a tractor accident.  I built it with the assistance of Andy’s father and both of our families. I hope that you enjoy the journey.  Be sure to read the bricks as there are many that have messages engraved on them.  Andy was a beloved math and physics teacher and around 2000 people attended his funeral.  There were so many we had to have it in the school gymnasium.”

Something I CAN do!

While recovering I was happy to participate in and lead Friday Lapheld Labyrinth walks with and for Veriditas. Promoting The Labyrinth Society’s Gathering “Celebrating the Spirit of the Labyrinth” was great and a dry run for my talk in late October early November, “Spirits of the Labyrinths.”  Dia de los Muertos, All Saints and All Souls Days.

Embrace ‘Ayni’

This followed by a last minute request to help a colleague in Tasmania who had inadvertently double booked the time. “Embracing ‘Ayni’ through Solvitur Ambulando” or “What Can We Do When We Can’t Do Much?”*

*From online source Global Volunteers. “The Quechua word for this mutuality is “ayni”, meaning “today for you, tomorrow for me,” suggesting that giving comes before receiving. “Ayni” (eye-nee)   is the only commandment of the Incan religion that the Andeans know and keep until this day.”

Growing Together

round lap labyrinth.

Lap labyrinth.

What a happy way to contribute during what could be an otherwise slow recovery time.  Then, as fate has it, my colleague/friend, Tina in Tasmania, and I did a catch-up ZOOM.  As she shared why she needed a fill in for her presentation, another idea grew like summer blooms. Remember, this was summer in Australia and late winter in North America.

Competere*

 

Her community worked to prepare soil, grow and tend vegetables, pull weeds, sweat, complain and laugh together, gather and preserve fruits of their labor as they competitively “Grew Together.”  I was reminded of how the Friday Lapheld Finger Labyrinth walks had been growing since COVID-19 (March 2020 in the USA).

  • Tina shared how a high shcool friend  and she bounced off ideas as they “competed”. From the Latin root word “competere” meaning to strive together, to seek together, to meet/coincide. Perfect!

“Growing Together” became our theme for an August Friday Walk. We engaged a conversation of how different groups can “grow together” and then invited our global labyirnth community to walk and share after. Amazing comments!

Mr. Rogers Inspirations

Again, filling in for colleagues, in late fall the theme, “Channeling Mr. Rogers: How the Ancient Path of the Labyrinth Can Guide Us as Modern Day Helpers,” struck a cord with participants in our Friday Handheld Finger Labyrinth walks. Technology expert, Annika, enthusiastically embraced the idea of short “chat rooms” so more people could participate.  The music selection initially was instrumental versions of Mr. Rogers’ songs. As tehcnology has it, something else happened and a riotous selection of similarly named songs popped up. People laughed as they delighted in this anomoly of music. Chats were followed by the closing plenary session. People shared such poignant comments as to fill my heart with appreciation for the opportunity to work with them and for branching out into a different way to engage people.

Stepping into Wellness

Sculpture of girl pointing north with Surprise Lilies behind her.

Surprised by Joy.

The “dud” winter proved helpful as I could walk the horseshoe drive for exercise.  Flat surface and enough steps to gain back strength. By spring I gingerly began walking the labyrinth using trek poles.  A measure of balance was the challenge of walking to the center on the raised limestone rectangles.  Over time I regained balance. By summer I was happy to see the flowers and as usual was delighted to see the blue lobelia and the Surprise Lily.

 

Travels Yield Labyrinths

August found us motoring to Chattanooga via Land Between The Lakes.  A fascinating history of taking over land, manipulation, regrowth, restoration. And, hugging the west side of Kentucky Lake is this wonderful little labyrinth. St. Peters of the Lake. A picnic, walk and into the Land Between the Lakes itself. Then on to Chattanooga.  Jessie and I endured heat on our walkabout to find the labyirnth at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. A respite inside the sanctuary revealed an elaborate and child centered altar. Terra Haute, IN, was a complete surprise.  Set off in Hawthorn Park a lovely labyirnth in honor of a family greeted us. Again a broiling day. So the coolness and sighing of the trees and quiet calls of summer birds soothed the soul.

Channeling Mr. Rogers 3.0

People pausing to assemble a fish puzzle like Mr. Rogers paused to feed his fish. Nurturing and being Nurtured

Quietly working.

“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a neighborly day in the beauty wood, could you be my, Would you be my?” Oh how people love Mr. Rogers to this day. And we could use more of him in our world today. Each presentation of Channeling Mr. Rogers has its variations. At the core is Pause…Kindness…Helping. And, Prairiewoods Spirituality Center is a grand place to live these values as a small group shared kindnesses they have received and extended to others. Autumn is just the right season to live Channeling Mr. Rogers 3.0.

Celebrating the Spirits of the Labyrinths

We meander. Springfield, MO, proved a great place to stop and the Drury Hotels scored again with service and friendliness. We plotted a clockwise route to visit three labyrinths in the late afternoon. The sequence proved just right.  The first labyrinth at Unity needs more than love.  While initially a good idea, without maintanence the labyrinth painted on a section of parkling lot way back in a corner had declined.  Uninspired it is bordered by a dumpster and storage building, faded, weedy and simply neglected.  * Contacts with the church asking their plans to revive yielded nothing. St. John’s Chapel United Church of Christ labyrinth is nicely situated even close to major roads.  Set down it’s protected by trees so has a cozy feel.  It, too, needs some love and the members appear to have plans to refresh it. The most inspiring and well kept is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church labyirnth.  Gorgeous!

 

Every year The Labyrinth Society hosts The Gathering.  In 2025 over Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, All Saints and All Souls Days we gathered at The Vines 4-H camp. Great time! Ingenious temporary labyrinths like the skull one this woman is walking.  And, reflections on creating a labyrinth from an old field.  Letting things happen and managing to a degree. (Note the reflection on the grass labryinth on the window to the left of the screen. Nearby Ferncliff Presbyterian Center’s labyrinth is tucked into the woods, tricky to find.  Worth it when you arrive. The website explains, “This 52 foot labyrinth of wood chips and rocks was built by students from Jonesboro, Columbine, Paducah who had been impacted by school violence and came to Ferncliff for healing over the course of five years.” The walk is not easy. Neither physically nor emotionally.  As my colleague and friend, Twylla, noted, “It’s all jumbled” and stirs up emotions.  In fact, the way is rough with rocks and roots. Healing is a messy path to walk.

 

Like the wise men in the Bible, we returned by a different route.  Our decision was simpler – we like to explore different places. So, Columbia, MO, found us exploring labyrinths, meeting friends for lunch and tucking in to another Drury Hotel. Prior to our visit the chaplain at the hospital and counselor at the high school all welcomed me with emails.

Again, our clockwise visits yielded the most serene for last.  The Rock Bridge Christian Church was an adventure getting to and finally in a round about manner, there we were.  It’s guardians are making renovations to the entry and near the center for accessibility.  A satisfying walk. Unity of Columbia maintains the labyrinth. The entry is lined with pavers of donors’ names and sayings.  A happy place. A friend whose wife had attended Hickman High School guided us via back byways to the school as traffic was building up. Students walked by as we watched. Later, Counselor, Paige Reed, explained that she and staff are working to refresh the labyrinth that was created in memory of a devoted friend and teacher.  Always a good feel to learn that. Last was a quiet walk at the Boone Hospital Foundation  labyrinth.

The Year Ends

The ONLY possible day for a burn was Sunday, November 23rd.  Clear skies and calm to light breezes finally followed days of fog and high winds.  The next two days fog rolled in again.  By then the Thanksgiving holidays were upon us.  And, a massive snow storm over that weekend.  I got in a walk on the burned labyrinth and am content now to let the labyirnth rest for the season.

Navigating Grief Through the holiday Season

People around a table in candlelight.

Managing grief through the holidays.

Through the Nassif Community Cancer Center, Sayde Alexandrescu, Lisa Hanigan, and I created a poignant program for cancer survivor clients. Ways to acknowledge grief and welcome in light during this season where “abundance” can add to stress.  A lovely program and a surprise of connecting with  the labor and delivery nurse, Bonnie, who helped us navigate the journey of our son’s birth years ago.  Intersections.

This has been quite a year for labyrinth journeys.

  • Note: As a Veriditas trained Advance Faciliatator and who works informatlly with webmaster, Jeff Saward, in the UK, I connect with labyirnth guardians. Each labyrinth I visit, I reach out asking the status and after to either compliment or ask their plans to refresh, restore or consider decomissioning.

 

 

Cataract Surgery Re-Visited

by | Dec 11, 2025 | Reflections/Profiles, Wonderment

Well, Rich’s cataract removal surgery was fourteen months ago – October 2024. How did it work out?

What are Cataracts?

 

Opaque cataract in eye

Cataract

Cataracts grow slowly. The gradual reduction in visual acuity is a little like the frog in boiling water. Declining vision is slow but relentless. When is the time to choose surgery…….and does it work?

“My vision gradually diminished. The world looked slightly foggy and I’d see sparkly halos around lights, especially headlights when I’d drive after dark,” Rich remarked.

His Ophthalmologist, Dr. Brian Privett, watched his cataracts slowly grow over several annual routine eye tests. Finally, they both agreed it was time.

Surgery

The surgery was short and easy, at least for Rich. He was lightly sedated. Dr. Privett removed the right eye cataract. A week later he did the same on his left eye. Recovery involved a series of eye drops several times a day for about a month. Then it was all over. Dr. Privett had not only removed the cataracts but improved visual clarity at the same time.

Improvements!

Rich’s vision was much improved, and the halo radiating outward from headlights was reduced. Then, over time, vision began declining. At his annual checkup Dr. Privett found cloudy substances that form under the new cataract lenses. He prescribed a simple laser procedure called a Yag Cap to remove them. One eye this week and another next week.

More than a month’s gone by and Rich says his vision is the best in his life. Driving after dark is spectacularly clear. He only has a bit of occasional cloudiness in his left eye and an occasional floater that Dr. Privett says will vanish in time.

Back Story

Rich’s vision was poor from birth. In adulthood it was around 10/600. “I would have had trouble telling Marion from my brother ten feet away without my glasses,” he said.

Laser surgery in 1997 improved his vision, although he still needed to wear glasses for light corrections. Now, following the subsequent cataract surgery and a little more laser work, he no longer needs to wear glasses. The exception is for very close up work and reading.

Here are things he’s noticed:

  • It feels strange not putting on glasses. Sometimes he puts them on out of habit.
  • For years his glasses would fog up when he’d come inside on a cold day. That’s no longer an issue.
  • Even when glasses correct vision to 20/20, they still slightly degrade vision because there’s always some glare and the lenses gather dust and dirt.
  • Because he doesn’t need to wear glasses all the time, he puts them on and takes them off from time to time. He noted, “I’m worried I might put them down and forget where….so they’d be lost.” This was never a problem when wearing them was absolutely necessary every minute.

Safety Reasons to Wear Glasses

Safety glasses prevent objects flying into the eyes.

Safety glasses

There remains a strong reason to wear glasses, even when they’re not needed for visual acuity. Safety. Rich often operates power saws, drills, mowers, and other tools.

They can flip a wood chip or piece of debris in the eyes. So, he invested in a quality pair of safety glasses. They have a bifocal type lens that allows reading or seeing things closely but no correction.  Safety glasses are inexpensive.

Conclusion

So, at age 76 Rich is enjoying good vision. The best in his life. “My original laser surgery and later cataract removal freed me from glasses and let me see spectacularly well. It’s almost miraculous,” he exclaimed.

For information:  Dr. Privett is at the Iowa Eye Center at iowaeyecenter.com.

 

 

The Joy of A Quiet Yard

by | Aug 21, 2025 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Birds, Garden/Yard, Nature, Reflections/Profiles

We savor our quiet yard moments.

One of our favorite nature writers, Joseph Wood Krutch, remarked that anything people do creates noise. It seems that the clanks and roars of life are increasing since he wrote those words years ago. Quiet is a rare pleasure. Unfortunately, noise doesn’t respect property lines. It does trespass into yards and homes. It’s hard to avoid.

Life Before the Industrial Revolution

Imagine life before the Industrial Revolution. No cars, factories or trains and no power tools. A 1700 era ship could glide by with only the rustling of the breeze in its sails.

Prior to machines the loudest noise to assault the ears was a crack of thunder.

We cringe as motorcycles roar past our home and shake our heads when we hear booming music from neighboring cars as we wait for a traffic light to change. Some people adore noise. We don’t. Audiologists warn that noise exposure can lead to hearing loss, stress, high blood pressure, sleep disruption and lowered productivity.

We believe it. Rich was exposed to extreme noise in army training, followed by years running vacuum cleaners as a custodian and chain saws in the forestry industry. It eventually caught up with him with diminished ability to hear sound, especially high pitched ones. Tinnitus is his constant companion.

Because we treasure our ability to hear well, we’ve learned how to best enjoy quiet moments,  create quiet places, reduce noise we produce, and use technology to enhance hearing.

A Week’s Quietest Hours

At Winding Pathways and almost everywhere else the  week’s quietest hours happen early Sunday morning. Roaring motorcycles of the night before are parked, factories are in passive mode, and fewer trains chug along. On many Sunday mornings we’re up early to sip coffee on the porch and enjoy the gentle sounds of nature unmarred by human activity. These moments are  delicious.

Creating Quiet Yard Places

Nature offers ways to lessen the din. The quietest parts of our yard are surrounded by vegetation. Leaves muffle noise. So does topography. Our home and yard are on an ancient sand dune. The north side of our property is the backside of the old dune. It blocks some of the din coming from a highway to the north, shielding about half our property from road noise. Our house, itself, reduces decibels. The side opposite the road is often quieter than the other side.

Our tall prairie plants, shrubs, and trees also muffle noise.  A river birch tree in Marion’s labyrinth is close to the road. Its branches drape down over a bench surrounded by tall prairie plants. Vegetation offers intimate privacy and  slightly muffled noise.

Using Technology to Reduce Noise and Hear Better

We’ve gone electric. Over the years we’ve replaced gas powered mowers, trimmers, chain saws and snowblowers with those fueled by batteries. The decibels they emit are a fraction of their gas counterparts but still make some noise. So do our vacuum cleaners. To protect our hearing we store sound dampening ear muffs near these tools and wear them when using them.

Dr. Jennifer Reekers

Fitting hearing aids is a process and building a relationship

Hearing Aids.  Wow, they are expensive but miraculous. Hearing loss is a stealthy gradual condition. When Rich first bought aids he was amazed to hear the gentle sounds of walking in dry leaves, the creaking of the floor, birdsong, and better understanding of other’s speaking, music, and the television.

Audiologists usually provide a free hearing test. Rich’s advice – get a test and follow up with a pair of hearing aids if needed. The website of the American Academy of Audiology at members.audiology.org can help anyone locate a nearby professional who can help improve hearing.

Quiet Communities

Cities can do much to encourage quiet in their communities. Everyone benefits. Consider advocating with your local Council, law enforcement, and parks departments for developing a more quiet community.

Some people love noise but for most people it’s an annoyance. A quiet yard is a gem to create and enjoy.

 

Trackchair® Brings Folks with Mobility Issues into Nature

by | Jun 12, 2025 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Nature, Reflections/Profiles

Woman guides the Trackchair(R) down a hill.

Tracks easily run over a rough surface.

On a spotless spring day, Trackchair® made a delightful afternoon in nature’s beauty possible.

Marion had had surgery, so walking on soft or uneven ground during recovery was challenging. But it was May, the marvelous season of birdsong and wildflowers. We yearned to leave urban noise behind and hike a trail.

Why Nature?

Few activities are as refreshing, relaxing, and rejuvenating as being in nature’s stillness and beauty. For most people, all it takes is a walk in the woods, wetland, or flower-studded prairie. Marion’s walking challenges were temporary during recovery, but many people lack easy access to nature due to a permanent disability.

How We Got Outside

We made a reservation to use one of three Trackchairs® that the Indian Creek Nature Center welcomes people to use for free. Two are adult sizes, and one is designed for a child.  The chair was charged up and ready to go when we arrived at the Nature Center. Staff member Michelle Basler gave us a quick orientation. “I love helping people use a Trackchair. They help people who usually use a wheelchair to venture into nature alone or with their more mobile friends or family,” she said.

The Nature Center’s Trackchairs® are made by ATZ Manufacturing in Marshall, Minnesota. “We have a nationwide system of distributors making it possible for nonprofit organizations, like the Nature Center, or individuals to purchase one and have it tailored to their needs. Distributors also service the chairs,” said Adam Henning, Marketing Manager.

How Trackchairs(R) Help

He told us the chairs are being used by a diversity of people with special needs. “We know they give access to nature for people close to the end of their lives. Even injured seasoned athletes use them to observe outdoor sports,” he said.

Our time outdoors wasn’t exactly quiet. We were serenaded by Baltimore Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Tennessee Warblers, and American Redstarts. Wildflowers lined the trail. The Trackchair(R) itself was so quiet we could hear birds as the chair purred along on its electric motor. “Quietness is important. Various ATVs on the market enable people to access nature, but they are noisy,” said Henning.

Friendly Features

The chairs are also easy on the ground. Marion used the joystick to turn the chair 360 degrees, and it barely scuffed the grass underneath. It has a leveling feature that enabled her to go up and down steep slopes without concern of tipping, and gingerly cross a narrow footbridge.

Where to Rent a Trackchair(R) Locally and Why

Learning the controls

Controls are easy to learn.

We were fortunate to have access to one of three Trackchairs® recently purchased by the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids. “The Nature Center held a fundraising campaign to find money to buy the chairs and additional endowment funds to generate income to pay for their maintenance and eventual replacement costs,” said John Myers, Executive Director.

“The Nature Center strongly believes in the many mental and physical health benefits of being outdoors. The Trackchair® helps us extend access to those people who struggle to walk,” said Sarah Botkin, who manages the Nature Center’s Amazing Space Building.

The Indian Creek Nature Center is a private nonprofit organization on the east side of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Annually, it hosts thousands of people for environmental education programming, special events, and rentals. Trails wind through over 400 acres of woodland, prairies, and wetlands and are open to the public for free use every day of the year. For information or to make a Trackchair® reservation, visit Indian Creek Nature Center and the reserve an all terrain wheelchair. You can learn more about AMZ Manufacturing and the many models of chairs they make by visiting their site.

What Is A Trackchair(R)?

ATZ Manufacturing made the Trackchairs® and is based in Marshall, Minnesota. It began in 2008 when a father worked to develop a device to enable his son to access the outdoors. It grew into a company that makes and distributes the Trackchair® we used and many other models suited to different needs. “We have one that enables people to stand and do things like grilling dinner,” said Henning.

Trackchairs® weigh between 400 and 500 pounds. They are best transported in a pickup truck or enclosed trailer, but can be moved on a hitch platform that has a tongue rating of at least 700 pounds. Transportation, of course, isn’t necessary at the Nature Center or the many other nonprofit organizations and government agencies that let people use them on their grounds. They move at three to five miles an hour and have about a seven-mile electric range. “We’re working to increase the range using advanced batteries,” said Henning.

Overall Impression

Man using Trackchair(R) to go up a steep slope.

A Trackchair(R) helps people with limited mobility enjoy being outside.

We were amazed at the chair’s comfort, its quietness, and its ease of learning. After just a few instructions from Michelle, we were on our way up and down the Nature Center’s trails. Even after turning on a mowed section of the trail, the grass was undisturbed. The slower speed gave a leisurely pace. Time to note flowers and hear birds.  The faster pace on rough ground was akin to riding a bronco.  Kind of fun, but not recommended. The chair has a guard on the back to prevent tipping over. And, users can angle the seat forward or slightly back when going up or down steeper hills.
It was awesome to use!

An Update

About a week after we tried the Trackchair® Rich was volunteering at the Nature Center. A school bus drove in and unloaded a class of fifth grade students. One was in a wheelchair with an attendant. The Nature Center had the youth-sized chair ready and a staff member oriented the student right after he was transferred into the Trackchair®.

Then, off he went with his classmates. The chair enabled him to pace right along with the other students on his own. He was thrilled.

 

Labyrinths 2024

by | Jan 9, 2025 | Labyrinths, Reflections/Profiles, Ruminations

Winter and Spring

Each January I post about visiting labyrinths during the years. Below are Labyrints 2024 that we visited.

January kicked off the year with a fun and moderately mild weather visit to a childhood friend and her family who now live in Wisconsin. We walked in Wauwatosa’s Hartung Park, where the community has installed an engaging labyrinth for all ages to enjoy. Watch as this youngster romped along the path looking for the icicle fairies who feed the Voogans. These are imaginary creatures, tall as a house, who live in the park.

Prairiewoods Spirituality Center in Hiawatha, IA, hosted a series of cross-quarter date labyrinth walks. The first, known in various cultures as Imbolc,  St. Bridgit’s Day, or Candlemas, marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.

Early April we trekked to Arkansas for the total eclipse and to catch up with Veriditas and Outdoor Writer friends. The paved labyrinth at Hendrix College is special to Twylla Alexander who hosts special walks with her family in the holiday season.

Spring to Summer

One of my joys is to periodically help host handheld labyrinth walks through Veriditas. Each Friday since March 2020, Veriditas has hosted free walks.  As many as 100+ have attended worldwide from at least four different continents. Remember this involves navigating time zones and considering seasonal differences in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres!

December 2023 when I guided a “finger” walk, the North Polar Bear who comes out annually with the Father Christmas stories, jumped up and created quite a stir!  Viewers grabbed their Teddy Bears and other “stuffies” and joined in the chaos.  I could hardly contain anyone! Soooooo, North Polar Bear set the idea of play in the labyrinth.

This gave rise to the yoga class participants from the Nassif Community Cancer Center coming to the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth. We’ve walked before and enjoyed a potluck. This year they gamely joined in what is known as the Appleton Dance which works well on a dual-entry five-circuit labyrinth. Laughter and clapping drifted over the yard.

Sometimes a pilgrim quietly arrives. In high summer, a Gazette reporter slowly walked the path, took photos, and sat on the bench in the shade of the birch.

Evening is always a pleasant time to walk, especially with a setting moon to frame the trees. I do miss the sounds of insects which have been diminishing over the years as loss of habitat and increase in sprays take their toll. Insects are critical for earth and human health.

Autumn to Winter

People use wheelchairs and feet to move through the indoor labyirnth.

Indoor labyrinth

Our minister, the Reverend Carin Bringelson creates unique services engaging a variety of congregants. One September service featured several stops where members engaged in physical activity. This included a three-circuit processional walk that a friend, Tom, helped lay down on the Ely Room floor.  We invited people to walk once to get the feel and then again more thoughtfully.  People enjoyed the experience and shared their takes on the various stops after service.

 

Finding labyrinths 2024 was slower this year because of different types of activities.

In September, Rich and I visited Lincoln, NE. Part of our adventure before his bicycle ride was finding labyrinths.  It was mostly futile.  One was a pretty walking area but not a labyrinth.  The other was tucked away from where anyone would choose to walk and behind an area of construction.  The path leading to a pretty paved labyrinth was overgrown and uninviting.  Needs love. One we simply could not find.

A similar experience in Charles City, IA, which did have a lovely paved labyrinth next to the river revealed that is was gone. To everything, there is a season.

October found me in northern California outside Yosemite at a labyrinth conference. The Gathering’s theme was “Awe and Inspiration.”  Indeed the day tour into Yosemite, although brief, yielded a sense of the grandeur of this sacred place so loved by John Muir and before him, the Indigenous people who lived there.

We are not always filled with Awe and Inspiration, so what do we do when things are tough? We walk through “Ordinary” time. Not meaning dull, but time of preparation. Although connected to the liturgical sense, we all experience “Ordinary” time and Awe and Inspiration. That was the theme of my talk.  How inspiring to hear people’s experiences and how they use the labyrinth to help them keep balance and return to a sense of appreciation and inspiration.

I’ve captured images of our trip below.

Finally, we approach winter with our final yard task of the year. Burning the prairie and the labyrinth!  My favorite activity.  Now, I can walk the path, note the ashen borders, and know that come spring the Phoenix Harmony Labyrinth will emerge even more robust than ever.

Burning and winter quiet.

Nebraska’s National Forest

by | Oct 31, 2024 | Nature, Reflections/Profiles, Trees

A  national forest amid Nebraska’s grassy Sand Hills! Yup. Several units of the Nebraska National Forest are scattered about the central and northwestern part of the state.

In the 1990s we drove through miles of grassland with nary a tree in sight and then camped in a sprawling forest of Ponderosa pines and red cedars in the Forest’s Bessey Unit almost dead center in the Cornhusker State. How can there be a forest on land that nature intends to be a prairie?

History

In 1902 University of Nebraska botanist Charlesy Bessey encouraged Forest Service Chief Gifford Pinchot and President Theodore Roosevelt to plant trees and create a forest in the grassy Sand Hills. The nation was facing a lumber shortage and most Americans valued forests over prairies and deserts, so they agreed.

Efforts

Millions of trees were planted close together over the 90,000-acre Bessey Unit. Many grew well; when we visited 30 years ago, they were mature and gorgeous.

Nebraska grasslands and dead trees

Rolling hills along the Loup River.

A fire tower was also built and staffed to watch for fires. Sure enough, fires broke out and killed many of the trees. Fire is an efficient sorter. Grass is highly fire-resistant. Many trees are not.

 

 

Return to Nebraska’s National Forest

Decades later we camped there again in September 2024 and were amazed at the change. Although the Forest Service Campground remains in trees, much of the former forest has quickly returned to grassland, due to several fires.

We saw thousands of dead trees with stacks of trunks piled along the road.

Lesson

Attempting to create a forest in a grassland was an ecological disaster. Over time nature is reclaiming land that should have been managed for what it is – healthy grass sprinkled with millions of wildflowers.

Continued Activity

Nebraska National Forest nursery trees.

Trees grow in the nursery

The Bessey Unit includes a modern nursery where the Forest Service grows trees for replanting on land in the western United States. The surrounding land is a fascinating place to see first-hand the result of past management based on a misunderstanding of the environment.

 

 

 

The campground’s trees were spared fire and remain a shady place to camp for anyone driving across vast Nebraska. Great opportunities exist here for education and enjoyment of the trails. But, it needs maintenance. So does the now abandoned fire tower. For information check usda.gov/nebraska.