Friday, January 16, 2009

Back Yard Labyrinth

Here's a happy thing that didn't make it onto last month's happy list: One of the things I did for my birthday (a few weeks ago) was design a labyrinth. There was something relaxing about using a compass to mark out distances measured from the back yard. I've been wanting things like fountains, a Stonehenge or large obelisks, but Mark has pointed out that it would chop up the yard into even smaller parcels. So I suggested a labyrinth made out of sunken bricks (not so much maintenance, and the lawn mower should go right over it).

This one is two interlocking circles; one is centered on our ornamental cherry tree. The paths are two feet wide. The entrance will be at the south end (the left side of this picture) by the Sphinx. I've laid out an experimental circle of rocks around the cherry to see if two feet is wide enough and it should be (for one person).

Now of course, we have to buy the bricks, and I'll have to dig little trenches. I'm sure that given the differences between the flat-paper drawing and the topologically interesting terrain in our back yard that I'll discover things Euclid never dreamed of.

2 comments:

Nathan Koren said...

I really like the labyrinth design! The pathway seems to go from chaos, through order, to infinity. Nice!

John said...

Thanks. Glad you liked it -- I suspect what you're seeing is increasing pressure from the available space on the design I wanted. The labyrinth really wanted to end up in the valley between the two lobes on the western side. But I forced it to the south end.