April 2011
Just slipping into the last day of summer, the Garden Group had its first activity of the new year at the end of February.
But it was worth the wait since the Christmas party.
Firstly we had a tour of Cheryl Andrew’s peaceful garden where there are spectacular Edna-Walling-type seductively curved rock walls that wind in and out and around scribbly gum trees that look as if they have been carefully planted but, in fact, are just as nature placed them. The whole effect is of serenity, with artfully placed boulders and gardens that have special meanings for the family.
One highlight was the labyrinth that Cheryl has created, inspired by Wendy Christian’s at Bellawongarah. The following information comes from Cheryl’s helpful guide.
“ The Labyrinth is an ancient symbol that represents wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. It is different to a Maze in that the ‘way in’ is the ‘way out’. The objective of a maze is to get you lost. A labyrinth will help you find your way. Whilst walking the contained circuit of a labyrinth we use the right brain and we draw on our creative and intuitive side in search for possibility…Labyrinths have been found all over the world, in most cultures, throughout history: laid in marble in churches, created from stones in fields, mowed into tall grass, painted on canvas, drawn in sand…People walk the labyrinth in quiet meditation or dance it in celebration, or follow each other through it in thoughtful community, or enter it as a personal journey…”
Thank you Cheryl for this experience and your generous offer to share it with us all.
From there we drove to Fran Pritchard’s well-established garden where she also has a labyrinth inspired by Wendy and Dave’s.
This was another kind offer for the Garden Group as Fran’s is also a work-in-progress and it has great meaning for her, so to share it with us was generous. Fran’s labyrinth is a classical medieval seven path design and to walk its length is 336 metres, a massive project that she has taken on. Escorted by Sophie the dog and Jeremy the miniature horse we wandered down the slope to the front, thus completing a circuit of Fran’s garden.
It can seem to be quite a scary thing to open your garden to the Garden Group and we are always very appreciative of any offer.
It should not however be frightening, as we are all only learning how to work with what nature presents to us and we all understand that a garden is a personal expression.
Maybe we should all regularly walk a labyrinth to “Release all judgement of your walk.
Release self-doubt and all expectations.”
We all feel very lucky to have been invited into these gardens where there are these extra areas of interest.
Lee Sharam