On Yard Work and My Labyrinth:

It is time for yard work. I know some of you don’t have yards. I not only have a yard but I have acres. Okay, most of those acres are woods and some is the vegetable garden but I do have a yard and it needs attention in the spring. Plants to be moved, wisteria arbors to fix, fences to replace. My husband ‘The Mountain Man’ does most of this work. He is bigger, stronger and doesn’t mind being out in the sun. But there is work for me too. The oak trees only loose half their leaves in the fall and the rest come down in the spring. I rake leaves. I decide where over grown plants that need separating will go. The Mountain Man plans out a new stone wall and I must find a home for the plants he is displacing. I hold the new posts for the arbor as he digs them in and pours the concrete. I work in the yard.

I also clean out my meditation labyrinth. It is a stone edged path that goes round and round, in and out of itself, in the oak grove west of the house. My back hurts from raking leaves out from between the stone edgings. I have blisters on my hands and the work is not even half way done. It takes days to clean and straighten the paths again. Winter heaves the ground and pushes the stones around. Small animals have burrowed under the larger rocks to find shelter in the winter months. There is a whole lot of work to be done here. In the summer I will walk in the cool of the shade under the oak trees but for now the sun beats and burns my pale skin as I work.

My labyrinth is a special place I come to think and to talk to my supreme being as I walk the path into the center and back out. I lay my burdens down in the center and walk out feeling better, freer and lighter. But for now it is just a lot of hard work. It is the one job around here that I wish I had more help with every time I do it. My blisters burst and ooze. But when it is done it will be worth it all. The blisters will heal and my back will stop aching, my fair skin will not tan but will peal from the sun burn and I will have a few more freckles. But I will enjoy my yard in the evenings after the work is done. But for now you’ll have to get back to me, maybe some time next week I’ll let you know then if I’m done and ready to enjoy it yet. It all depends on how many rainy days we get before I’m done.