The Labyrinth

We are always keeping our eyes out for events that are compatible with "The Masker Way"-- which is basically Tommy and I wearing our Bluna KF-94 masks in public indoor settings, some form of eyewear, and the ability to keep ourselves spaced 6 feet away from other households. 

It feels like we are the last people on the planet still doing these things. People say "It's 2022", but to us (and many other COVID high risk families), it is just 2020, episode 2. And, our navigational journey to this evolution of The Masker Way is captured in our Maskers Comics, which if you haven't checked them out yet, they are available as ebook, paperback, or you can view at our website.

So, yes, we have come to terms with everyone's ability to choose whether to mask or not, and have made peace with that. It just required a bit of changing on our part. Us masking is in our control, but getting the 6 feet space and avoiding crowds can be a bit more daunting. No one just gives it to you, and people aren't used to doing it anymore. So it is more a game for us to make it happen, with body language and dancing around others like there is an invisible llama standing between us. 

I like looking for outdoor events that aren't probably going to draw much of a crowd. I am subscribed to emails from All Events--which tells me about events in my area--and I breeze through them, usually not finding many options. But I do find gems. A few weeks ago I found out about "World Labyrinth Day" (oh yes, it exists!), and a small place was having an event, about 25 minutes away from us. Perfect. An outdoor labyrinth will be set up to walk through and we can be part of a wave of World Peace. (And it is free! Woop, Woop!)... And open to all. Perfect. They also have an indoor art exhibit (we can see if that will work once we are there). Yes. This should be a good one. I printed the free tickets although I figured we wouldn't actually need them because it is a small event. We researched labyrinths and even learned to draw our own! 

When we arrived at the center we walked to a place under shaded oaks. It was a pretty cool labyrinth: a white shelled area about 15 yards by 15 yards was set up, with a winding maze with walls of sticks and stones that meandered from the outside entrance to a central point. We had plenty of room in this tranquil outdoor space, so we did not need our masks for this part. 

There was a gentle breeze coming off a nearby lake, and the weather was perfect. We stepped into the entrance one at a time with a little space between us, so we could each do our own meditative walk. I began to make my way up, and down, and around, and back up these windy paths, toward a center that I felt was so close, and many times I felt I was about to reach it, only to be turned around sneakily another way. But, we were assured we would make it, and we did. Tommy made it first, and once he was there he completed his triumph by pulling out an imaginary "Master Sword" from the center of the labyrinth (Like Link from the Legend of Zelda, for the gamers out there). I did a yoga pose when I reached the center-- the Tree Pose. But Tommy took too long in taking the photo so it was more like... One of the clowns doing the tight rope walk, wobble wobble!

 We hit up a free library box in the vicinity and found some good comics there. I love little free libraries! I mentally promised I would return with my comic to put in once I made it into a paperback (as this was before I had gotten that far in debuting out new Masker Comics.)

 We also visited the few outdoor tables set up. First, we stopped at the stand for a Bird feeder business. It reminded me of the birding books we bought earlier in the pandemic and took along on our hikes. Another stand had a ranger with a poster of maps and on her table was a 3D animal skull and models of scat. She told us about their mission of creating pathways through Florida for the endangered Florida Panthers to use to travel to different patches of safe wildernesses, for which they could use to hunt and hide. I feel like that is something we all need. Maybe this labyrinth event here was one of our pathways to a safe and social world.

Inside the building was tougher. We masked up to check out the art gallery inside. All the art was down a hallway. We entered and tried to look at the art pieces, but it was kind of crowded feeling. People were walking by, weaving in and around the paintings hung on each side of the hallway. I was kinda sweating, in more than one way. There may have been one other person masking. So many unmasked still makes me uncomfortable inside even though we use n95s or their equivalents.  There are elderly people here who would benefit from a mask. And disabled people... this art part was all made from disabled artists. But there isn't much on the way of accommodating Covid higher risk families here. I thought about my disability and how difficult this pathway here is for me to get through. A person with a wheelchair sails on by me, at ease. We were weaving about trying to give space and keep our space, an impossible task here, and mostly trying to get through to the end, just up ahead, while stubbornly trying to be calm and enjoy the art a bit at least-- it wasn't too much further. I could see the end up there. We tiptoe around this group. We can pause here by this picture while we wait for those groups to clear and maybe we can find a path? Why is this person standing here, they aren't even looking at the art? Don't they know this hallways is crowded? Clear out Buddy if your done looking at the art! This hallway is too crowded! I am kinda glad I have sunglasses and a mask to hide my displeasure here. 

I remember the Seahorse painting. It captured me.  It was all painted in light blues and it calmed me. I read the plaque underneath. It was titled Hippocampus. Being a psychology graduate, I remembered the hippocampus is the area of the mind where our memories are stored, as well as it's function in spatial navigation. I wondered what that all had to do with a seahorse. (I looked it up when I got home. Hippocampus is also name for the genus a seahorse is in. It comes from a Greek word meaning "sea monster" or "sea animal".  I wondered what that has to do with the brain region? Googled it.. Apparently that part of the brain is shaped like a sea horse.)

 I remember I was wondering why all these people forgot there was a pandemic. Didn't they have a nervous little seahorse in their heads too? One that remembers that a million  people have died so far, here in the US. That it is still here, this virus is still here killing, hospitalizing, chronically injuring. But then I remembered our Comic: "Cock-A-Doodle-Do, Cock-A-Doodle-Don't, Cock-A-Doodle-Do-It-If-You-Want-to-Do-It-And-Don't-If-You-Don't"... That means they all can choose for themselves. And it is not in my control. Serenity. We have a choice. Empowerment. We are Doing It. And we can KaPow, leave a bad situation. We can leave a crowded hallway. And we did. We were inside a total of less than 15 minutes. We are OK. I believe it was a successful trip, all in all. But I think it is kinda funny how a short, straight hallway was harder to navigate than a real labyrinth.