This blog is a view in to my World as a builder of fine gardens and mosaics, and the beautiful places and things that inspire me as I travel the globe.
"Show not what has been done, but what can be. How beautiful the world would be if there were a procedure for moving through labyrinths." Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose
Saint Colomba's Bay, Iona, Scotland
Uranus is the 7th planet in the solar system and I am dedicating the 7th circuit of the Labyrinth to the 3rd largest planet. While all the other planets are named after Roman Gods, Uranus, is the only one named after a Greek deity, the God of the Sky. The planet turns on an axis that is perpendicular to the other planets, so that its poles are located where our equator would be. Photographs from the Voyager Spacecraft show a featureless atmosphere of pale sky blue, perhaps inspiring its name. It was the first planet to be discovered using a telescope, even though it is visible with the naked eye. It has 27 moons, and takes 84 Earth years to orbit the sun.
The Planet Uranus, photographed by the Voyager spacecraft
The God of the Sky, or Heaven, Uranus is the Latinized name for the Greek God Ouranos, the father of Cronus (Saturn), who is the father of Zeus (Jupiter). Uranus is the planet of the sign of Aquarius. He is considered to be the son and husband of the Earth Goddess Gaia, who begat a number of troublesome offspring in their union. You can get a sense of the mayhem that ensued by reading this post: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/u/uranus.html
You'll have to read the Pantheon.org link to understand what is happening here
It is befitting that the illuminated night sky was so dramatic on my return to the island to begin building this circuit dedicated to the sky and the heavens.
Seattle at night across the water
When I returned to the site I was delighted to see that somebody had made a wreath of fallen fir boughs around the altar in the center of the Labyrinth. It is gestures and blessings like these that bring sacredness to the space.
A wreath of boughs around the central altar
I started by moving the forms to start the 7th circuit. The curve from the entry path to this circuit is formed with a piece of flexible lawn edging and lots of spikes inside which I set the yellow stones that correspond to the western direction of the Budding Trees Moon.
The entry path turning in to the 7th circuit
A man and his nephew came to see the project. I made them a yellow starfish in the section of the path passing the Neptune circuit, the last one in that series. They know the family who came and placed the dahlias I brought to the site before I left for my last break. They talked about how moving the experience was for them.
Rainy day visitors
When I made the turn in to the 7th circuit I decided to make flying birds for people who come to visit and ring the Prayer Wheel. I chose swallows as they have a simple streamlined shape and are the bird cast in bronze on the top of the wheel.
Swallows on the Prayer Wheel
I've always loved watching swallows dip and swerve over still waters, catching insects and sipping water on the wing. So I look for stones that have a slender shape for the body and tapered ones of the wings. Two small triangles make up the scissor tail. Sometimes I add a head if it looks appropriate. It is not easy to make a readable swallow with the kinds of rock I find on the beach, which usually don't come in slender shapes.
The first Swallow flying around the 7th circuit
I made a run to the beach at low tide and gathered 8 buckets of stones to supplement the green and pink I need to make this arc from Spring to Summer. It gets dark at 5:00 now because of daylight savings time, which is frustrating as I would like to continue working.
The next morning I moved the forms again and set the stone up to the southern cardinal point, where I left a gap so that I can add the loops to the 6th circuit that will happen here. Then I returned to the beach again to collect pink and red and purple stones for the Summer to Autumn arc. Red stones are really getting rare on the beach I usually collect from. I went all the way down to the end today where the landslide took out the road. The repair is terrible to look at, and the beach has been compromised by the construction. This is near the point where a Creosote factory was located, the largest in the region at one time for making treated wood for railroad ties and power poles. The polluted floor of the harbor is listed as the Wykoff-Eagle Harbor superfund site due to the severity of the contamination the plant left behind. Cleanup is still in the research and planning phase even though the site was listed in 1987. Superfund sites are usually impossible to clean.
Slope stabilization to rebuild Rockaway Beach Road after a landslide
Rising sea levels due to Global Warming will endanger a great many homes and roads around the island in the years to come, causing erosion and more landslides like the one here. But people on the island seem to prefer to drive large vehicles rather than smaller more fuel efficient ones, so those on the water will eventually have to pay the Piper.
The tide was coming in and the steep stone steps leading down to the beach from the home I am accessing this section of the Rockaway Beach from is partially covered during high tide. The ferries come in to Eagle Harbor close to the shore here and the wake from the boats caught me against the bulkhead wall and soaked my pants, so I had to go home and change out of my wet clothes and shoes.
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Then I returned to the site and worked until dark setting the red stones I added to my selection. The red section of the labyrinth is very rich and beautiful, with lots of Jasper in the mix.
The next morning another pallet of mortar and 200 feet of rebar had been delivered. My body moaned in anguish, but it gives me the goal to use up this material before I quit for the winter. There are 50-80 pound bags of mortar on a pallet, weighing in total two tons. I think this is my 5th pallet so I will have mixed 20,000 pounds of mortar this fall! No wonder I'm so sore. Some people brought me a galvanized bucket of stones to use in the Community circuit, which I went through and picked out the ones I could use.
A donation of stones for the Community circuit
The next day it was windy and raining and the power was out, and there was no running water at the house, so I went to work without the benefit of hot tea or being able to wash my face. I had to set up my modular structure to attach a tarp to and had a fairly miserable day setting the path to the loop on one side of the western axis. The power was still out so I had to wash my hands in the toilet, and drove to town for dinner as the lights were still on at this part of the island. I went to bed that night without a shower. The power came back on just before midnight.
I made the second loop in the west and proceeded on through brown stones in to orange. Another trip to the beach was needed to gather orange and black stones to carry on. The lousy weather makes for fewer visitors and I have been listening to music to get me through the drearier times. Still the weather hasn't been too bad overall compared to what it could be.
Loops in the path between the 8th and 7th circuits in the west
I continued on in to the orange and black areas. Each circuit is a slightly smaller deja vu of the last one as I go around and around. A woman walking her dog who lives below the park on the harbor came by and invited me to access the beach there via their garden to collect rock, so I made a trip down to see what was there.
Blakely Harbor
The sky was gorgeous but the stones here are very small and not what I was looking for, so I ran down to Rockaway beach while the tide was out to collect more black stones, which made it possible for me to continue working. I need larger flat pieces to form the edges of the path, and always seem to be running out of these. I made a small flock of black swallows for people who came by the site.
Can you find the Swallows?
October 9th: I haven't been sleeping the past few nights. Something is going on out there that is keeping me awake. So I was thoroughly exhausted when I went to the site this morning. I picked up a cold from working in the rain which may have something to do with it. Terry and Terri came to shoot more video today. They filmed a tour of the park while I ran to gather some larger white stones to work my way in to the northern part of the labyrinth. We talked about the lives of Greek God's while I worked and it turned out to be an enjoyable day in spite of my fatigue. My cousins Libby and Bob came by with a couple of friends, making for a social afternoon.
The Terry's, my cousins, and their friends
Even though I was sleep deprived and surrounded by guests, I made great progress, mixing 8 bags of mortar and setting about 18 feet of path. I hauled gravel down the hill that had been delivered and filled some of the gaps between the paths after it got dark since that happens at 5:00 PM now. I'm using the same gravel that was spread on the paths so that they match.
The next day was Sunday and I had several visitors. The first couple, the Piraino's, were particularly fun to meet. We laughed a lot, which helped lift me from my delirium as I didn't sleep much again last night. We talked about Sicily and the town which is their namesake, and the famous Capuchin Catacombs where the bodily remains of departed souls lie in a grisly display of our mortal impermanence. Its an incredible thing to see first hand. I told them the story of how Ouranos' overly fertile wife Gaia had one of her many offspring castrate her husband after tiring from bearing so many hideous children, one of which was the Cyclops. When his testicles were flung in to the sea, there was a foaming from which Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love was formed. Such an interesting way to manifest love, out of pain. We had a good laugh when I commented on how much more fun Greek mythology was than Christianity. I made them a pair of Swallows after they left. In fact I ended up making a flock of swallows as more and more people came by.
The Pirainos
Rich, who's mother Joy is memorialized in the boulder and Stewartia tree at the western end of the Labyrinth brought his wife Amy by to see the project and we had a nice visit. He told me I would surely be going to Heaven for the work I am doing here. I laughed and said "We'll see..."
Rich and Amy
Next, a very nice woman named Jenny came to the park to turn the prayer wheel for her son Nolan. We had a lovely talk and I made Nolan a Swallow, with his Mother's wish that he metaphorically learn to fly. Blessings to you Nolan. I'm eternally grateful that I was born in a generation that didn't have access to computers and cell phones until I had formed a grander vision of the World. It seems a great tragedy that the wonders of the universe have been eclipsed by cellular devices. May this Labyrinth offer a path to reconnect us to the spirit of life.
Shelly points to the Swallow dedicated to her son
A little while later, the happy trio of ladies, Tiffany, Veronique, and Wendy came along and peppered me with questions. Their energy reminded me of the flocks of giddy robins feasting on the Madrone berries in the trees overhead in the morning, when the forest is alive with happy twittering. They were delighted to each get a Swallow as I finished the 7th circuit. Another one down!
Wendy, Veronique, and Tiffany pointing to their Swallows
The days are so short but I need to begin the process of gathering more stones to make my way around yet another circuit before I quit for the winter, so I raced off to the beach and collected four buckets of about 300 pounds of stones before it was too dark to see anything. I was only going by shape in the end, so I won't really know what I have collected until tomorrow. At any rate, the center is beginning to fill in and the Labyrinth is really taking shape.
May a flight around the 7th circuit be filled with the brilliance of a heavenly sky, lofty with muscular clouds, or a clear day sparkling on the water, or a star filled night hung with the the porch swing of crescent moon, encompassing all the aspects of the magnificent realm of the God Ouranos.
Next I will begin the 6th circuit, dedicated to the Planet Saturn and its namesake God, who represents the concept of Time. A woman asked today what would go in the open center where the inner circuits have not yet revealed themselves. At first I was baffled by the question, but later while standing on the high boulder where I take the panoramic portraits of the Labyrinth each day, I envisioned a giant globe filling the rock strewn center, surrounded by the rings of Saturn. And that made me smile.
I had decided to dedicate the inner 9 circuits in the Labyrinth to the planets in our solar system when I was finishing the 10th circuit. Pluto, the ninth planet has since been downgraded to a large 'Plutoid' by definition. I was fascinated by the descriptions I read of the God of the Underworld and wanted to venture there as I built it. It is a circuit where we can honor our ancestors and departed loved ones.
The 8th planet from the sun is Neptune, named for the Roman God of the Sea. It is the 4th largest planet in the solar system. 57 Earths would fit inside its mass.
An image of the planet Neptune from NASA Voyager
Neptune is the Roman incarnation of the Greek God Poseidon. He rules over both fresh waters and the sea. His brothers are Jupiter and Pluto. His consort, Salacia, the Goddess of the sea who bore three children, including the half man, half fish, Triton. Neptune is traditionally depicted holding a Trident and is frequently associated with horses, as he assisted the Goddess Athena in building the chariot. Because of this I am dedicating this circuit to the Sea, and all waters, with the intention of caring for them and helping to make them cleaner and healthier.
The Neptune Fountain in Piazza Navona, Rome
October 25: I set up forms to start the 8th circuit, making a loop from the 9th to the left of the entry path. This path will loop into the 7th circuit at the southern cardinal point. I use a dense flexible plastic lawn edging material to make the forms for loops.
Mortar fills the forms in the loop from the 9th to the 8th circuit
Instead of making flowers in this circuit I decided to make Starfish or Sea Stars. Starfish are Echinoderms, which is the same phylum as Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers, and Sand Dollars. Known fossil records of Starfish date back as far as 450 million years, making them one of the longest reigning living organisms to still inhabit the planet. This indicates the incredible ability for Starfish to survive every type of planetary change up until now. We could only hope as a species that we may last a tiny fraction of that. Different species live in the intertidal shoreline zone down to depths of 20,000 feet beneath the sea. Most Starfish have 5 legs, but Puget Sound is also home to the Sunflower Sea Star, the largest species in the World. Capable of growing over 3 feet across here, they do not come in to shallow waters because their bodies wont tolerate exposure to air, so you wont see them in tide pools. If you'll pardon the corny music, this video has some interesting footage, especially of the scallops and the clam at the end.
Sadly when I did some research on Puget Sound starfish I found out that populations are dying off at an alarming rate only recently. You can read about this at http://www.eeb.ucsc.edu/pacificrockyintertidal/data-products/sea-star-wasting/index.html
Starfish come in a wide range of colors befitting of those in the Medicine Wheel in the Labyrinth.
I'm going to stick with the 5 legged variety as it would be very difficult to make a 24 legged one.
A simple 5 legged sea star in the transition area between green and pink stones
Terry and Terri came by again in the afternoon from Kingston to shoot some more video and share stories. Its really nice to spend time with them. We talked about the many types of stones I've found, and tips on traveling in Greece, and the wonders of Nature. I made them each a Sea Star after they left.
Terri and Terry in forest colors
I worked my way towards the south and then headed for Rockaway beach at low tide to collect four buckets of stones before it got dark. I need more green and pink stones to make my way to the southern cardinal point.
Surf Scoters have been gathering along Rockaway Beach
The sun was out in the morning when I went to the site. It was surprisingly quiet for a nice Saturday as I mixed mortar and set stone. My cousin Libby and her husband Bob and their son who live on the island came by to see how the project was progressing. I was low on mortar and the next pallet wont arrive until Monday so I drove to Winslow in the afternoon and bought 10-80 pound bags to cover me until then. I got a flat tire after I loaded it. Once that was fixed I was driving back to the site, but stopped to photograph a wonderful stone fireplace that stands along the edge of Eagle Harbor. The house it once warmed is long gone, replaced by a mossy lawn. Somebody had artfully placed a punch and fold paper model of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow inside the hearth. It was a wonderful piece of whimsy on a beautiful fall afternoon.
A fireplace is all that remains of an old house on Eagle Harbor
I then returned to the site to set more stone up to the end of the forms, which I will move tomorrow.
A group of four women came by. They got excited by the idea that I would make them Starfish and wanted to know how many they would get. I was only able to make 3 with what was available in the pink area I was working in.
Four friends visiting the site
An hour before dark I drove to South Beach, which I haven't visited before. It is a beautiful area over a hill reached by the humorously named Toe Jam Road. I was able to gather four buckets of mostly red stone before there wasn't enough light to see anymore.
South Beach
There is beautiful brown striped bedrock here with a colorful array of beach rock strewn across it. There is a lot of tumbled man made debris mixed in, red bricks and brown tiles.
Veined Bedrock and Beach Rock
People with homes across the road have teetering ledges with row boats and deck chairs and bleached wood stair cases to access the shore. They are often nicely arranged and decorated with washed up artifacts and brightly painted skiffs.
A blue and red rowboat on South Beach
Sunday was a busy day at Halls Hill Park. It was drizzling when I got up but by the time I got to the site the sun was trying to come out and it turned in to a beautiful fall day. Lots of people came by to see the progress and I found myself being something of a tour guide explaining what has been going on over and over. I had some repeat visitors who came to visit their stone flowers.
Cindy and Pat
I made three starfish for John and Bonnie and their daughter Annie. John told me they came to the park rather than going to church, as he thought it was the nicest church on the island.
Bonnie, Annie, and John in front of where I am making their Starfish
Katherine and her Starfish
I met Katherine today, who had that look on her face that people often get when contemplating this project. The idea for me is that it becomes a vehicle for expanding the mind, becoming more conscious, and practicing compassion for the Earth as a whole, and not just humanity. The Labyrinth is a record of these moments, points of realization experienced on a planet orbiting around the sun in great ovals, which when looked at from a certain angle become circles. I was happy to make her the sweetest little starfish.
Later a man named Rick came to visit and told me that the boulder that is on the western side of the Labyrinth was placed there as a memorial to his Mother, Joy when the original labyrinth was installed in a meadow like lawn. The Stewartia tree, in full fall color behind the boulder was planted in her honor as well. I had no idea of this previously when I incorporated the boulder in to the cardinal points of the new design. I told him that I had dedicated the Ducks Fly Moon that is directly in front of the boulder to my Mom when I built it in honor of her 80th birthday. It feels serendipitous to have the two gifts to our Mothers unintentionally placed next to each other. Perhaps this stone would be a fitting place for others to honor their Mothers and Grandmothers by placing offerings or flowers. I would like to see the labyrinth used for a variety of rituals. I've conjured visions of groups chanting while sitting on the 8 stones at auspicious times of the year. A Circle Dance would be lovely on the Spring Equinox, or even a May Pole on Beltaine or May Day. I'd like to maybe do some kind of Summer Solstice event here next year.
Rick sitting on a boulder dedicated to his Mother Joy
Len, who does mowing and blowing in the park came by and we talked about not blowing the labyrinth area anymore, at least not when I am on the site. While it is a nice easy way to keep the site clean, the noise and exhaust from the blower and the removal of the beautiful leaves that have been falling on the site seems inappropriate to the energy that is evolving here. He was fine with that. If it gets buried I'll ask him to come and take care of it. As the winds picked up it appeared to be snowing Douglas fir needles, golden brown and fine textured. They mix in with the mortar without being a problem, and fill the spaces between the stones in a beautiful way that conceals the uncleaned mortar joints. I have a fantasy idea that people would come and sweep the labyrinth as a ritual or hand pick the leaves to care for it in a loving and gentle way that doesn't pollute the air with exhaust and noise.
Noah and the family dog
I made a lot of progress today and talked several people in to going out to search for stones to use in the Community circuit that I will build next year. I wrote about this in the second installment, about the Mala circuit. I'm looking for block like stones with a flat top and perpendicular sides that would fit well together, in any size and color. Ideally people will bring beautiful stones that speak to them rather than just whatever they find. It is an opportunity to look at stones in a more observant way, studying the shapes and colors and differences between the great variety that can be found on the area beaches. They do not have to be from the region but do need to be flat on top with 90 degree or more sides and be deep enough to stay put when I set them in mortar, about 2 inches thick or more.
I'll probably leave a container out and a sign explaining what I am looking for over the winter while I'm gone. There is a large flat topped boulder to the left of the Labyrinth entrance that people can leave stones on until then.
I completed about 12 feet of mosaic today, working through the red and purple areas, which requires a lot of diligence to find enough stones in those colors in order to make my way from the south to the western cardinal points. Tomorrow I should be able to pass the half way point in the 8th circuit. There will be two loops into the 7th circuit at the West and Northern axis.
The sun is back out today, but I had insomnia so I am exhausted and hope I don't collapse on the site while I'm working with less than an hours sleep. I moved the forms and set the stones on either side of the Western cardinal points. It was a quiet day in the park. One man came by who lives on Rockaway Beach. I'm sorry I didn't take his picture because there was something special about the encounter. I told him I would make a Starfish for him if he rang the prayer wheel, which he did. I could see him through the trees as he was leaving and we waved at each other in recognition of his deed.
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It was windy and cool when a group of women came by who had gathered together for the weekend. They brought me some rocks they had collected on the beach and we went through the tote bags to pick the ones that I could use in the mosaic. A lot of them were of the right shape and depth, and brown, which is the area I was working in at the time, so I was able to incorporate some of them right away.
Labyrinth Stone Gatherers
I used up all of the mortar that I had bought and the next pallet I ordered hadn't been delivered as I had hoped. That was fine because I had an appointment to get a much needed massage later in the afternoon. It was marvelous and helped relieve some of the chronic pain that was developing in my right shoulder. Its important to consider regular massage if you ever decide to undertake this kind of work so as to not permanently damage your body. Since I was near Winslow I decided to drive over to Manitou Beach, which I had heard has a rocky shoreline. The view of Seattle from here is beautiful with the Space Needle centered on the horizon. The light was so dim that I was feeling the surfaces of the stones to determine if they were the right shape. I have no idea what colors they are, but I gathered more than 200 pounds before it was too dark to see anything.
I don't have a television at home but there is one where I am staying and I finally turned it on for the first time. I ended up watching Public Broadcasting and saw an interesting story about how local municipalities are working on bio-swale technology to filter storm water from urban areas that otherwise can add significant pollution to Puget Sound. A underwater photographer came across an Seattle storm drain outflow pipe billowing a continuous column of black water, which when sampled and tested, killed fish fry (baby fish). When they filtered that water through a swale, enough toxins were removed from the water by sediments and plants that the fish fry lived. Disconnecting our downspouts and increasing the permeability of the pavements around our homes is one of the best ways to reduce our impact on water quality. Fix oil leaks on vehicles and don't use pesticides or herbicides or chemical fertilizers, and make sure that excess nutrients in gardens doesn't wash in to surface water. And don't pour toxic substances down storm drains. I once saw a maintenance person casting granular fertilizer on a landscaped slope along the Willamette River who was so careless that he was throwing fertilizer in the water. Maintenance crews and many gardeners could benefit from learning to be better stewards of the land in regards to the impacts they have.
I pick up garbage whenever I am at the beach, and even when I walk to my local store. I'm always recycling discarded plastic bottles tossed in the gutter, and have picked up literally thousands of cigarette butts to keep them from being washed out to sea. An Australian environmental organization once made the general estimate that some 4 trillion cigarette butts end up in our oceans every year.
Cigarette butts on a flooded sidewalk
Picking up and properly disposing of garbage you come across as you travel through the world makes for a better planet, instantly. I've never gotten sick from touching garbage with my bare hands. Carry a bag and a gloves to make it easier and more sanitary to pick up litter when you come across it. A line from a favorite children's book is 'This is what would happen if everybody did", with more positive consequences. Teach your children to be conscientious about litter. We had Hooty the Owl when I was a kid and the program taught me to care about the planet. "Give a hoot, don't pollute."
Conserve energy, and it doesn't need to be produced. The power plant doesn't need to generate electricity for a light that has been turned off. Leaving the door of the refrigerator open while you do other tasks in the kitchen uses a lot of electricity to cool it down again. This is the most energy consumptive appliance in most homes. Electricity is often produced by coal fired power plants that add an enormous amount of carbon to the atmosphere, and causes acid rain. Increasing acidity in our oceans is one of the biggest threats to sea life. The mining and transport of coal is also environmentally devastating. Nuclear power obviously has its issues, and hydroelectric power, one of the main sources of electricity in the Pacific Northwest is responsible for the devastation of what was once the largest salmon run in the world up the Columbia River. Some dams are being removed in the Pacific Northwest to restore dwindling salmon runs.
Take reusable grocery bags to the store. Every time you avoid getting another plastic bag is one less bag that might end up in the ocean. Grow and buy local organic food. Recycle. Use biodegradable soaps and cleaning products. Most importantly, how can we cut back on our driving? Be proactive and you will have made a change, rather than just talking about making them. The Sea is suffering because we aren't taking enough care in our personal lives.
If you live on the shoreline, make sure that your landscaping is suitable for maintaining good water quality. Many homes have a large lawn running right up to the sea walls. I can only imagine that fertilizing these lawns leaches directly in to the sea water only a couple of yards below. During really high tides the sea water can actually wash over the tops of the walls. Appropriate landscaping, which can actually enhance the coastal environment is an environmentally healthier option.
Various types of landscapes front Rockaway Beach homes
In the foreground of this photo is a home with a more naturalistic landscape that allows higher tides to break on the rocks. Driftwood logs help to anchor the patio. Further down are more traditional landscapes with bulkhead walls that waves crash in to at high tide, with lawns and gardens that probably require fertilizers and irrigation to maintain them, which can pollute the waters of the Sound. All of the concrete bulkhead walls have drain pipes in them so that runoff from roofs and driveways and landscaping drains directly on to the beach.
There is an election coming up in November and on Bainbridge Island there is a candidate who is running who vehemently opposes the Shoreline Master Program because it requires limits on development and land use. The shores of the island are heavily developed with residential homes as the water views are highly desirable. The impact of building on the shoreline is great as there usually needs to be substantial amounts of fill, with bulkhead walls constructed frequently directly over the shore line itself. There is very little land left to be developed at this point, usually parcels that are more difficult to modify for building that will have greater impact. The shoreline plan is required by state mandates. Voting for a commissioner who opposes the plan usually means that this person is very much pro development without regard for the environment. Dick Haughan is that candidate from the research I have done on the internet. He is strongly opposed to the restrictions on the plan restricting the building of more private docks, land filling, and intrusive architecture. I don't live here, but his opponent Val Tollefson has stated that he would work to make the plan functional. It is clear in reading the plans guidelines that it is intended to protect the health and visual quality of the island's shorelines. An article on this issue can be seen at http://www.bainbridgereview.com/news/222876561.html
The seafood you buy also affects the health of our oceans. There seems to be a sushi restaurant on every corner these days. This has increased tuna consumption to the highest levels in history. Giant trawlers have made it possible to harvest greater numbers of fish to meet the demand with terrible consequences. Many are outfitted with satellite monitors that can locate remaining schools of fish. Tuna may very well become extinct in our lifetime. Billions of other fish are killed in the process every year, only to be discarded. Dolphins and whales are also a casualty of indiscriminate trawling. Our oceans are being stripped bare. Large fish now contain high levels of toxins such as mercury and should be eaten sparingly anyway, if at all. Consider buying smaller more sustainably harvested fish.
Shrimp is a good example of a seafood that can have devastating ecological impact in the methods it is farmed. Mangrove wetlands in many tropical countries have been destroyed by the development of shrimp farms. This photo, from the World Wildlife Fund is of a new shrimp farm on Mafia Island in the Indian Ocean, a part of the country of Tanzania's fabled Zanzibar region. When I looked it up I found that the island is touted as the finest diving in East Africa. The landscape surrounding the farm looks like it is pristine wilderness. The inexpensive frozen shrimp you buy at the store may very well come from a facility like this if it is imported. Read the packaging or ask the person in the fish shop where the seafood is sourced.
A Shrimp farm on Mafia Island in the Indian Ocean obliterates the natural landscape
Why is it important to preserve our oceans? Read this and you will understand. http://www.theherald.com.au/story/1848433/the-ocean-is-broken
A photo of Sharks Fins being prepared for the Taiwanese Market to be made in to soup
October 29:
Now that I have totally bummed you out, consider it an honor to be a Steward of the Oceans. It truly matters.
Back at the site I reset the forms for today's work. The pallet of mortar I ordered still had not been delivered so Gregory drove to town and brought me 6 bags of mortar to keep me busy until it
arrived. A beautiful young buck deer walked around the labyrinth barely perturbed by our presence. The weather was so nice I had to take advantage of making as much progress as possible. I worked my way from orange in to black and then in to white in the north. It was a pretty quiet day with not many visitors until late in the afternoon.
A woman named Lynn came over to see what I was doing. She came to ring the Prayer Wheel because she said she had been in a bad mood. I told her I didn't hear it. She said thats because somebody was using a leaf blower nearby. They are so loud that they can totally destroy the peace of the park. If I was king I would ban them. I love the old fashioned rake and broom. Lynn loves stones and said that her bad mood had gone away being here. I made her a sweet little white starfish and she promised me she would bring me some stones for the Community circuit.
Lynn visits the Labyrinth
Lynn's Starfish
A couple who are renting a cottage on Rockaway Beach came by on their bicycles. I was telling them about the labyrinth and the Neptune circuit and its relationship to the sea, and that I was writing about ocean conservation in this essay. The told me that they worked as ocean conservationists and that they had seen a pod of Orca Whales from their place on the beach today. There is a website called Orca Network where you can track the movement of area Orca pods. While looking at the website at http://www.orcanetwork.org I came upon another article about Orcas in Puget Sound. This essay stated that Orcas have the highest concentration of toxic chemicals, including PCB's, of any mammal on Earth. This, and changes in the availability of their food sources has led to population declines that could place Puget Sound's Orcas on the Endangered Species List. This is the consequence of being the top predator in the ocean's food chain. This interesting article appeared in a recent issue of the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022162797_apxpugetsoundorcas.html
Another woman I had met before came by next bearing gifts. She brought me a bag of assorted colors of beach glass she had collected from a place called Glass Beach near Port Townsend. The glass came from an old dump located on the shore. I placed several pieces of clear white glass in the area I had just finished at the loop on one side of the northern cardinal point of the labyrinth.
A gift of beach glass
She also brought me the most beautiful cookie I have ever seen. She and a friend stayed up all night baking and decorating cookies for Day of the Dead. This is a Mexican holiday honoring those who have passed, celebrated from Halloween until November 2nd. I photographed the cookie on the orange Halloween like stones of the 9th circuit.
A wonderful Dia de los Muertos cookie gifted to me
I had another hour of daylight so I drove to the boat ramp where I can reach the center of Rockaway Beach and collected 5 buckets of rock before it got too dark to see. A flock of Surf Scoters, Melanitta perspicllata were swimming along the shore line. Mount Rainier was colored pink by the sunset filtered through a heavy layer of Seattle's air pollution.
Surf Scoters, with Mt. Rainier in the background
A large dead Fried Egg Jellyfish was turning purple like a big blob of goo on the rocks.
A dead Fried Egg Jellyfish on Rockaway Beach
I went back to the beach in the morning and collected several buckets of stones. I saw four other dead jellyfish on the beach. I don't know if this is normal or the cause of water pollution. I focused on silver and blue green stones to finish the 8th circuit. Then I moved and reset the forms so I could work my way to the end of the 8th circuit. I made the second loop at the north cardinal point with the rest of the white granite stones I had collected on Mt. Rainier, and worked until dark trying to get the rest of the circuit done so I can go home for a few days tomorrow, but I didn't quite make it all the way to the end before it got dark. If it isn't raining in the morning I'll finish it up.
The second loop from the 9th to the 8th circuit at the Northern cardinal point
Two young bucks came by twice today. They are eating all of the white mushrooms that have been growing in the fresh bark that was spread around the plantings when I first started working here.
A pair of deer visiting the site
October 31st: Happy Halloween! This is the time of year when the veils between dimensions becomes particularly thin. Its an excellent time to honor dead loved ones, and to actualize fantasies of identity. I've always thought it strange that people always ask when I dress up for Halloween, "what are you supposed to be, a Genie?" So I am driving home and hopefully will have the energy to dress up in something fabulous and go to a big dance party tonight.
I didn't sleep well at all. Maybe those thin veils between worlds had something to do with it. So I had to drag myself down to the site in the morning. First I picked a bucket of dahlia flowers from the farm across the road, to use to decorate the cloud mosaic and center of the labyrinth. Then I went and mixed two bags of mortar to finish the 8th circuit and began setting the stones there. Jorunn, the woman who does gardening in the park came down and said that Ketil's stepson and his wife and their son were coming to see the labyrinth. They had just returned from Norway where they had attended Ketil's funeral. I had made clouds in the northerly direction and having finished the second loop there yesterday, the clouds were complete. I had planned to arrange the flowers around the clouds to honor the recent passing of my friend Lord and had dedicated the Clouds of Heaven to him, and Ketil, a Norwegian man who I never met. You can read about that in the essay before this one, "Pluto and the Four Elements".
So I finished my work and made starfish for Ketil's stepson and his wife while she and Jorunn arranged the flowers around the loops in the mosaic. I had planned on just using white there and placing the colored flowers around the center of the labyrinth but they told me that Ketil had always worn bright colors and loved purple, and that people who attended his memorial service in Norway were asked to wear bright colors in remembrance of him. So they mixed the colors together and shed some tears, and told me sweet stories. It was such a lovely closure to this phase of my work here, and totally unplanned. More serendipity.
When I return I plan to build the 7th circuit, dedicated to Uranus, the Greek God of the Sky.
The 9th circuit, dedicated to the God Neptune and all Waters and the Seas
River God of the Tiber at the Capitolino in Rome
Time for the most dangerous part of this job, the four hour drive home.
