Place Keepers

UPDATE (9 Feb 2010): I've canceled this event. Given the amount of snow on the ground and that expected in the next 24 hours, I think there's little chance that the labyrinth will be clear enough for a safe walk. And I'm not in a position to do any shoveling (doctor's orders). 

I do plan to mark the one-month anniversary, though, with a finger labyrinth at home. You can do the same online at either of these sites:

http://www.gracecathedral.org/labyrinth/interactions/index.shtml (Chartres design)

http://www.lessonsforliving.com/finger_labyrinth.htm (classical design)

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To mark the one-month anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I am organizing an open labyrinth walk on Saturday, February 13, at Georgetown Waterfront Park in Washington, DC, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. 

Georgetown Waterfront Park labyrinth (in the center of the photo), as seen from the Key BridgeThe wide paths of this beautiful labyrinth, the most publicly visible in Washington, DC, offer an invitation to open the heart to those in need. It is located at 33rd and K Streets NW. Those who wish to walk the labyrinth may arrive any time during the event and walk the labyrinth at their own pace. Participants are urged to make a donation to the American Red Cross or other Haiti-related charity of their choice, in the name of compassion, hope, and healing. 

I will be present to facilitate the labyrinth walk, which will take place regardless of the weather (unless the labyrinth is buried under snow).

If you'd like more information or want to help with this event, please use the Contact Us page to send an email message. 

My motto, "Connecting People with Place," has taken on new meaning, as I volunteered and was empowered to create a Facebook page for the Arlington Sister Cities Association, which connects my northern Virginia community with people in these cities:

• Aachen, Germany
• Coyoacan, Mexico
• Reims, France
• San Miguel, El Salvador
• Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine

Clara Barton Parkway, not in Arlington, but across the river in Maryland. I don't seem to have any good photos of the Arlington streetscape. Sounds like a good idea for a future project. If roads could speak. . . . Matt Johnson over at Greater Greater Washington has detailed the logic behind the street names in Arlington County, VA, where I live. It's a system that drives visitors nuts, because many streets are discontiguous. For example, I live on the western segment of Little Falls Road. The eastern segment (where the Knights of Columbus hall is located -- I've given directions many times) starts about a quarter mile away, on the other side of a small shopping center. You'd probably never get from one segment to the other without a map. So that's what we give our kids here when they start driving -- a detailed map book for the glove box. I've lived in Arlington for 20 years, and I still refer to mine at least once a month.

One of the interesting features of our local street grid is that you can clearly pick out the older roads that predate the grid system. That's probably something easy to see almost anywhere, once you peel off the automobile-era layer of the street system. What can you learn about your own local history and environment by looking at those roads?

 

I've just created a new Meetup group, the DC Metro Labyrinths & Sacred Spaces Exploration Group, to visit labyrinths and other spiritually renewing spaces, especially outdoor spaces, in the Washington, DC, area.

Our first Meetup will be indoors, though, on Tuesday, October 28, at the Washington National Cathedral, which has a monthly labyrinth evening.