My Labyrinth Journey, Almost Half-Way There!

Before I can move forward with this posting, the teacher in me realizes that I have two groups of readers:

1. Those who know nothing about my labyrinth journey
2. Those who do

So, here are your instructions. . .

Group One - You have a pre-reading assignment. Stop! Don't roll your eyes and conjure up visions of your least favorite high school English teacher. Simply click Join My Journey to catch up.  It's a quick read. Go ahead.  The rest of us will wait.

Group Two - Oh, you don't want to wait?  You've been dying to know what happens next?  OK - but don't give away the "good stuff."

Alabama became state #23 on my 50-state pilgrimage!  But almost not.

I was relatively close by in Grayton Beach, Florida on vacation.  Surely, there was a labyrinth meeting all my criteria, in southeastern Alabama.

My criteria =

*outdoor

*envisioned and/or created by a woman

*constructed by the creator (and helpers) rather than a professional company

*individually "owned," not associated with a business or institution

The chances were slim.

But there was one possibility on the World Wide Labyrinth Locator. . . 
The Middle Earth Healing and Learning Center -in Citronelle, Alabama -3 hours and 20 minutes away.
The catch?  It sounded like a business.  So I scrolled past to other possibilities.  None of the others met my criteria.

What to do?  My first major stumbling block.

If I were on a walking pilgrimage (visions of son Jason hiking the length of the Appalachian Trail), I might sit down on the nearest rock, take out my water bottle, eat a protein bar and consider my options.

1. Change my route, in this case my criteria
2. Sidestep this prickly part until a later time when conditions (thankfully, no black flies or bears) might be different
3. Cry, flail my arms, kick the dirt, (accidentally stub my toe) in frustration
4. Phone husband, friend, anyone who will answer, for advice (What? no cell phone coverage in my imagined woods?)
5. Give up

Never! (well, maybe a few flails and a couple of kicks)

My intuitive voice kept saying, "Call Lisa at Middle Earth.  Maybe there is a personal story to her (and husband, Craig's) labyrinth."

          I did, and there is.

And it's so worth the reading.

The book?  Written one journey, one walk, one story at a time.
To be completed. . . in a year.

Labyrinth Journeys: Fifty States, Fifty-One Stories*

  My journey continues at the end of June when I visit labyrinths and their creators in:

Illinois

Wisconsin

Michigan

Indiana

Ohio

*working title
original watercolor by Margie Beedle - Merciful Love Labyrinth - Juneau, Alaska