Cochrane Seniors on the Bow (SOTB) is in the final stages of completion of their much-awaited labyrinth project on the west side of Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.
The volunteer construction crew is putting up the gazebo and cupola at the centre of the labyrinth, hoping to have it completed this week.
Once completed, the labyrinth, which is adjacent to both the Bow River and Bow RiversEdge Campground, will be a place of quiet contemplation or meditation.
Cathy Howard was on site last week, bringing cookies and muffins for the construction crew. A key volunteer, her interest in the project goes back to her experience at a labyrinth in Calgary.
“I went through a difficult time in my life, and I went to the one in Silver Springs,” she said. “It gave me peace.”
SOTB Chair Nancy Gibbie said since construction began in the spring, they’ve had a lot of curious people stop on the nearby pathway to ask what was going on.
The recent hot spell has presented them with some challenges.
“We’re watering the plants every day, and we’re hoping they’re going to make it through the winter,” she said.
Construction started in March after SOTB secured funding.
“We wanted to do something that involves all of the community – all of the various organizations in town, the Filipino community, seniors, and kids,” Gibbie said.
“It’s spiritual, a place of contemplation, that’s what labyrinths are,” said SOTB vice-chair Bernie Thibault.
“So [people] walk the labyrinth, and get to the centre, and that becomes their contemplative spot,” she said. “We decided to put the gazebo in the centre, so that’s their restful spot. So they sit and rest, and think about their life.
“And the view is beautiful from here.”
Gibbie is looking forward to experiencing the labyrinth.
“It will be a place to go to contemplate your navel,” she said with a laugh.
Labyrinths are ancient structures. There are many types, sharing a single overall design.
According to The Theosophical Society website, “The labyrinth is a joyfully sacred space. If someone is walking the labyrinth, it is courteous to respect the need they may have for quiet concentration.
“As you enter the labyrinth, you may focus your thoughts on a question or concern. You may walk the labyrinth with a quiet mind, sensing without particularizing the wonder of the pattern. Or you may walk it with some of its many symbolic meanings held in your mind as seed thoughts. In the labyrinth, as in life, there is no single right way to follow the path.”
The gazebo will be up by the first week of August. It will be at the centre of the labyrinth, eventually housing six benches where visitors can rest and reflect.
The areas separating the path will be filled with painted rocks, and between them will be ground creeping plants known to be rabbit and deer resistant, that will attract butterflies and bees.
SOTB will be reaching out to the public to help paint the rocks, and the Seniors for Kids group have stepped forward to assist. The rocks are being donated by Green Spot.
