In the July 2010 issue of Better Homes & Gardens, I wrote a short item for my “Debra’s Garden” column called “Curves Ahead.” It could also have been titled “Three Cheers for the Circle.”

I am obsessed with round shapes — balls, spheres and orbs — and I love to dot the garden with these forms. This design trick relates to one of those basic lessons anyone who studies the art of landscape design is taught: Choose an idea and repeat it frequently.

My eye is naturally drawn to orbs and globes. They are so pleasing to me – in fact, I wrote about this passion previously – in an earlier blog post, “Zen of the Circle.”

Ornamental globes, obelisks and balls have taken up residence here in my Southern California backyard — check out the photograph below.

And it’s not just the three-dimensional geometry that puts a smile on my face. Curved outlines, such as the edge of a perennial border, patch of lawn or a turn in the path echo the orbs and reappear as arcs or crescents in the garden.

My interest in the sexy, organic globe shape has come “full circle” (pun intended) from a single idea to a cohesive design theme and a nice way to use ornamentation. Look around your own garden. Wherever you see a bare spot, perhaps it’s calling out for an orb or two.

I included a post-script note in my BH&G piece, promising to share my gallery of rounded and curved design ideas with our readers. Here it is – enjoy! Please send me your own photos and I’ll include the best ideas here, too. Check the bottom of this post for some of my favorite shopping resources.

My cluster of orbs in a dreamy palette of green, blue, and teal - with a wonderful mosaic orb by Vashon Island, Wash., artist Clare Dohna

A stunning, cool blue ceramic globe in a Yakima, Wash., garden. You can tell it is mounted on a pedestal to elevate it above the foliage.

Yes, these awesome orbs are actually vintage bowling balls. Each one rests on a painted flowerpot and is stair-stepped outside the porch of Berkeley, Calif., artist Marcia Donohue.

A finely-carved spiral woodworking detail appears at the end of a beam that forms the roof of a dining pavilion in our book, Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways.

The open circle - a "moon window" or "dreamcatcher" - provides a beautiful perspective in my friend Mary-Kate Mackey's Eugene, Ore., garden. It is mounted beneath an arbor where a hard kiwi grows.

My friend Kathy Fries designed a square-in-a-circle knot garden in her Seattle area landscape.

Plants like these golden barrel cactuses are naturally orb-like. You can see these at Lotusland, an estate garden in the Santa Barbara area.

This graduated set of concrete orbs just knocked me out when I first saw it in Sun Valley, Idaho a few summer's back. Thanks to my friend Mary Ann Newcomer, I got to visit some pretty amazing landscapes there.

A visit to any well-stocked garden center is likely to showcase the myriad choices of balls. I spotted a rainbow of gazing balls at Green Thumb Nursery in Ventura, Calif.

Restful, zen-like. Three types of moss are sculpted into a gravel garden display designed by Southern California landscape architect Graham Stanley.

Look for circular forms in public gardens - you'll find them. The arches of a lovely stone bridge are reflected in this pond to create an almost perfect circle. This bridge is at the classical Chinese Garden, recently opened at the Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Garden in San Marino, Calif.

Artist Robert Irwin sculpted flowering azalea shrubs into a circular maze at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. The clipped, concentric circles bloom in white, pink and magenta flowers.

The pebbles in a path detail, arranged on edge and curved into an eye-pleasing pattern.

A round "carpet" laid with sand-set concrete cobble-style pavers. Designed for my Seattle friends Rand Babcock and Tony Nahra by Daniel Lowery of Queen Anne Gardens.

If stone isn't your thing, try turf. This tiny grass "throw-rug" appears in the Seattle backyard of landscape architect Erik Wood and designer Carina Langstraat

Wow! Metal obelisks - powdercoated in orange (or turquoise), designed by Annette Guttierez and Mary Gray from Potted, in Los Angeles (see ordering details below)

Best resources for spherical garden ornamentation:

Pot-ted Store: Three graduated sizes of balls made from steel strapping will lend a lovely moment of architecture to the landscape. I have the medium-sized one in weathered steel (my preferred material). Annette and Mary, owners of Los Angeles-based Pot-ted, now sell a series finished with bright orange and turquoise powder-coating – their fav hues. Oops – I mean “aqua” and “tangerine.” Inquire about custom colors! Prices: $98 (18-inches); $139 (24-inches); and $169 (30 inches). Shipping available.

Bauer Pottery Garden Orbs: My friend Janek Boniecki has revived the classic California earthenware known as Bauer Pottery. In addition to making reproduction urns, dishes and serving pieces (in that awesome, sun-drenched palette), Janek and crew also create ceramic garden orbs glazed in Bauer colors. Yellow, dove gray, French blue, Federal blue, chartreuse, lime green, midnight blue, parrot green, turquoise, white, black and aqua (for some reason, the Bauer orange pieces are slightly more expensive, perhaps because of the glazing involved).

I am a bit addicted to these “globally admired” orbs, thanks to the company’s occasional factory outlet sales in Los Angeles. I have five or six of these gumball-shaped objects, which look tres-bien in and among foliage, flowers, blades and stems. Prices: $75-$82 (8-inch); $100-$110 (12-inch); and $150-$165 (15-inch). If you think you’ll be in the Los Angeles area sometime, make sure to check the Bauer web site to see the warehouse sale schedule. You will definitely find great prices and maybe even an orb or two (if I don’t get there first!).

Clare Dohna, Mosaic Artist:  Based on Vashon Island, Wash., artist Clare Dohna makes vibrant mosaic tiles in dazzling botanical shapes (flowers, bugs, leaves and more). She uses these tiles to adorn the surfaces of all sorts of wonderful garden sculpture and art, such as bird baths, bird houses, egg shapes and — my favorite – mosaic spheres. You can see one of her pieces at the top of this page; it plays nicely with the solid-colored Bauer orbs. Contact Clare directly (from her web site) to inquire about color schemes and prices.

A dreamy landscape in the sky, designed by Lauren Schneider

If you pick up the June issue of Sunset magazine – the one with skewers of salmon on a cobalt blue plate on the cover – turn to pages 51 and 52.

There, you will see a short (and I mean short!) story by moi. It started out much longer, but is now not much more than the length of a photo caption.

As these things go, I can’t complain. Thanks to the way we communicate these days, full-length magazine articles now read like Cliff Notes versions of themselves. The photo tells most of the story and then a few captions and call-outs do the rest of the heavy lifting.

In this case, the story called “Lush Look, Low Water” was inspired by a rooftop garden owned by Mike McDonald and Jill Martenson, a visionary young couple who built Margarido House, the first LEED-H Platinum home in Northern California.

The “green” home and its eco-friendly landscape have received a lot of press, but the Sunset story really gives readers the specifics on designer Lauren Schneider’s approach to the roof garden. A special thank you goes to Sunset’s Julie Chai for shepherding this story from our initial conversation to the final publication.

Check out the attractive clumps of Libertia periginans, a New Zealand iris relative valued for its bronzy-orange blades and vibrant color.

Surprisingly dreamy, soft and fluid, despite its exposure to the harshest of elements (wind, sun, saltwater, for example), Lauren Schneider’s design can be replicated in similar rooftop or in-ground conditions. The photos you see here are mine. I included the original full-length story in my articles section.

Eight hardworking native and Mediterranean plants create the central elements of Lauren’s design:

Echinocactus grusonii, Golden barrel cactus

Lewisia cotyledon ‘Sunset Strain’

Nassella tenuissima, Mexican feather grass

Sedum spathulifolium ‘Cape Blanco’

Lavandula multifida, Fernleaf lavender

Libertia perigrinans

Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’

Sedum spurium ‘Voodoo’

I joined Jamie Durie, of HGTV's "The Outdoor Room," for brunch and an interview in LA

When I take on the tough job of interviewing celebrities, I always hold my breath, wondering whether we’ll move past the PR-speak and begin to discover more about the person behind the famous face and name.  

So when HGTV’s publicity department arranged for me to meet Australian media celebrity Jamie Durie, I was ready for the spin. And the good news is that he surprised me with his abundant knowledge and heartfelt passion for his landscape design projects. It was a very fun assignment.  

Earlier this year I spoke by telephone with Jamie for an mini-profile that appears in the April 2010 issue of Garden Design magazine. Now that he is Los Angeles-based, we decided to try and meet in person so I could interview him for a Q&A to appear in the Los Angeles Times HOME section. 

An edited version of my full interview with Jamie appears in today’s paper, but I wanted to share our extended conversation here.  

A big THANK YOU goes to Eddie Ward of DRC Public Relations in New York. He did all of the legwork to set up my lunch appointment with Jamie on March 28th. Read on for the full transcript of my interview with Jamie:

READ MORE…

Check out pages 126-131 in the May 2010 issue

Today, while waiting to board my flight from Dallas to Burbank, I stopped by a newsstand and spied the May 2010 edition of Better Homes & Gardens.

I have been anticipating this issue because it features an article that I wrote about a very cool shed in Gig Harbor, Washington. The shed is owned by Cindy and Dave Storrar. They built their shed from plans they saw in the pages of BH&G, so they have traveled full circle from the inspiration to the reality — now reflected in their charming, 7-by-9 foot cedar-shingle garden hideaway.

How’s this for even more exciting news? My editor Eric Liskey made sure to include a sizable (half-page) sidebar featuring me as a “Shed Expert,” along with the cover of Stylish Sheds & Elegant Hideaways.

He also asked me to share tips on how to “design your dream shed.” These are excerpted from the book:

MISSION: Identify the activities that draw you outdoors (art, music, poetry, growing plants, play, entertaining, or meditating). Most personal passions can find a home in a small garden shed.

MUST-HAVES: List the design ingredients most important to you. Combine functional with frivolous. It’s OK to add a vintage cut-glass chandelier or a day bed. Make it your personal “nest.”

INSPIRATION: Draw inspiration from that single idea you can’t stop imagining – a historic property, a specific color, a recent beach vacation.

CREATIVE SOLUTIONS: Treat the exterior as a garden focal point and give it some of the visual upgrades you would give your own home. Decorate the interior with collections and cherished objects.

Stylish Sheds in the pages of Better Homes & Gardens

If this wasn’t awesome enough, I turned to the masthead and discovered that my new title as Contributing Garden Editor has landed me a place with all of BH&G’s editors and art directors. It feels good to be in such talented company.

It’s been a long day and already past midnight, but I had to post my news.

You see, I promised my new writer-friend Monica, my companion in Row 13 on that American Airlines flight from Dallas to Burbank, that I would make a big deal out of the magazine article.

Monica is the first person with whom I shared the magazine item, and she made me feel so pleased with the accomplishment.

We writers work so hard sometimes, often for less money than we deserve and little acknowledgement of our talent.

And it was nice to have an “atta-girl” from a fellow writer who was until today a complete stranger to me. Now, of course, we will probably become lifelong friends. And that makes today even more memorable.

The renovated succulent and cactus border arcs along the lawn's edge. I love the salt-and-pepper gravel mulch, which echoes the dark-light elements of the home's Palos Verde stone cladding

The cover story of today’s Los Angeles Times HOME section features “Finally back in its prime,” my profile of the Daily House, a beautifully restored, circa 1954 “mod pad” in the LA suburbs of Glendale. Straight out of “Mad Men,” the house has been a decade-long project of its young owner, Christophe Burusco. Check out the Times’ web gallery here, with images by staff photographer Al Seib.

I had hoped to include a sidebar on the garden, but space limitations got in the way. My interview with Kathleen Ferguson of Los Angeles-based Kathleen Ferguson Landscapes reveals her excellent ideas and tips for approaching the exterior design of a retro home.

Here it is, along with my photographs from visiting Chris and touring his home and garden.

As I write in the Times’ story:

“The house – designed by Glendale architect Clair Earl, thoughtfully renovated by Burusco and since added to the Glendale Register of Historic Resources – sits on a 14,000-square-foot lot that feels like a rustic retreat, far from the city. Not a single neighbor is visible from the living room or master bedroom. Rather, Burusco’s eyes are drawn to the vibrant new succulent and cactus garden designed by Kathleen Ferguson, who incorporated mature specimens raised by the late Jean Daily Russom.”

The low-slung, horizontal lines of the Daily House are visually appealing

According to Ferguson, as with all her projects, “I really look to the architecture and what my clients’ interests are.” With Chris Burusco’s project, she didn’t want the landscape to take away from the marvelous period architecture; rather, “I wanted to enhance it.”

Ferguson set out to mimic the architecture’s clean lines with “bold plantings in the landscape.”

Three major trees were saved, including a huge magnolia beyond the home’s glass-walled corner (which serves to enhance and frame the views of the San Gabriels).

Near the front entry, Ferguson was able to save an evergreen pear (Prunus caroliniana) and a Japanese maple. The beautiful forms of these two trees had been difficult to appreciate, due to a greenhouse that was plunked down between them by the original owner of the home.

Chris removed the greenhouse and its concrete foundation, giving the scene much-needed negative space.

The new pathway cuts diagonally across the entry, using horizontal and square poured-in-place concrete

In its place, Ferguson added geometric poured-in-place concrete pavers that echo the lines of the home and lead visitors to the garden’s side entrance. “We really wanted the pavers to look like something that had been there already, which is why we did a random pattern,” she says.

The level front yard slopes down to the street, creating a dramatic perspective as you approach the house.

There, Ferguson staggered agaves on the low hillside. Mass planted, the scale and form of the agaves is ideally suited to the rugged texture of the Palos Verde stone-clad house. Between the agaves, ornamental grasses appear as a softening device.

“Together, the native succulents and ornamental grasses mimic the native surrounding plant palette,” Ferguson says.

Smooth turquoise rocks cover the ground next to the accent wall with three cool cut-outs

As you walk along the side towards the home’s back garden, you can’t help but appreciate architect Clair Earl’s artisitic detailing. He punched a trio of “windows” in a stone accent wall, which invites you to view the San Gabriels through these carefully framed scenes.

On the ground at the foot of the accent wall, Ferguson planted softer forms of asparagus ferns, which can handle that constant shade. She “mulched” the plants with a layer of smooth, light turquoise stones “for a little bit of contrast.” (This stone echoes dark blue-green flagstone on the home’s entry hallway.)

The garden’s piece de resistance is a cactus-and-succulent border that arcs around the edge of the small lawn and patio area. Here, Ferguson worked with some of the mature plants installed by Mrs. Daily Russom, who Chris says was involved with the cactus garden at the Huntington.

“Jean (Daily) loved succulents — she had a lot of amazing specimens that we wanted to keep,” he says.

Mature cactuses are now interplanted with new hybrid succulents, creating a tonal cool-to-warm palette

By blending new succulent hybrids with the established, mature varieties, the expansive border is now a spectrum of cool-to-warm tones and contrasting shapes. 

The design starts with clumps of striking, blue-gray Agave parryi, moves into purple-black rosettes of Aeonium arboreum ‘Zwartkop’ paired with sculptural paddle plants (Kalanchoe luciae) and leads to eye-pleasing multiples of golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii).

Chris loves the way the succulent palette “moves from the cool blue-grays to the reds, yellows, oranges, and then into cool again.”

The border, which runs the length of the house and can be seen from most of its rooms, is now mulched with a warm salt-and-pepper gravel (which replaced what Chris called “big ugly rocks”).

The cultivated landscape in the foreground blends with the San Gabriel Mtns. in the distance.

Ferguson is most inspired by the tension created between the landscape and the house; between the architecture and the wild setting beyond its domestic borders.

“Chris’s landscape has a lot of push-and-pull,” she says.

There’s the smooth against the rough; grey-greens against the rich greens. And there’s the contrast between the garden and the arid, native chaparal around the perimeter.

As you approach the house, it becomes more lush and more ornamental.”

I think it’s a pretty stunning treatment, worthy of this historic, but thoroughly modern, abode.

Celebrating my birthday with Paula Panich at Girasole in Los Angeles, a sweet French bistro

Dear friends, 

Where did February go? And for that matter, where did the first half of March disappear to?  

I’m so sorry! I’ve been racing around like a crazy woman. Like my fellow *Gamma-Sisters everywhere, the world is asking more of us at every turn. Eternally curious, we’re inspired by exciting, interesting and compelling people, places, projects and opportunities. As one of my friends pointed out, I am easily drawn to “bright, shiny objects.” It’s irresistible. There are literally not enough hours in a day to “do it all.” 

One of my excuses is that I have been traveling more than usual. Another is that my little family is currently in its bicoastal phase, with Mom and sons in Southern California and Dad (for the most part) in Pittsburgh. His occasional trips home are a highlight for us and exhausting for him. In between, I’m solo-parenting, burning the candle at both ends and juggling everything (while also letting some important things slack off, such as keeping in touch with friends, answering 500 emails in my in-box, and blogging!). I had to put the pause on the blog for a while. No promises, but as of this weekend, I sincerely hope my “blogger’s block” has been broken – and that I can return to regular correspondence. 

By July, we will be reunited as a family, but I am well aware that July is still several months away. In the meantime, we have to ready this 1980 Spanish-style ranch house for sale; get packed and relocated; get our oldest son ready for his freshman year in college and move me, younger son and our family pet to Pittsburgh. Oh, and find a place to live! Crazy, life is just crazy. 

I don’t want to leave Southern California, especially with its glorious natural beauty, amazing gardening and garden design community, and (for me) wonderful opportunities to gather and tell stories. So, I guess I’m going to try and become a working writer with two home bases: Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. We’ll see how that goes. I don’t want to lose these ties I’ve been so fortunate to develop since moving here in 2006. Imagine: I didn’t want to come to L.A. and now I don’t want to leave! 

Just to bring you up to date, dear readers, here are a few highlights of the past month. If we’re connected on Facebook, you may already have seen some of these items. If not, then click on my Facebook icon (see right) and join in.

READ MORE…

I competed with a hummingbird to get up close and personal with this gorgeous Manzanita. Katherine has a trio of them, small multi-trunk trees, in full January bloom.

Katherine Greenberg is a passionate native plant expert whose naturalistic landscape in the East Bay community of Lafayette has inspired hundreds of tourgoers and garden club students who have taken her workshops about growing California natives in the domestic environment.

I have known Katherine for about five years through our association as fellow board members of the Pacific Horticulture Society (she is former board president). Although we only see one another two or three times a year at board meetings, there is always a friendly connection as fellow horticulture enthusiasts. And also as writers.

Katherine has just signed on to completely revise and expand a classic title, Growing California Native Plants.  Written by the late Marjorie G. Schmidt in 1980, the guide originally introduced the idea of using native plants as elements of the landscape. Tens of thousands of copies have sold, but over the course of the book’s 30-year run, lots has happened in the cultivation of natives. More growers are propagating and breeding native plants and there has been an explosion of interest in changing how our yards and gardens look.

Katherine's entry garden in winter.

Lucky for California homeowners, University of California Press asked Katherine to create a new version of Growing California Native Plants. Uber-organized as she is, Katherine just signed the contract this past fall and has the entire book mapped out with most of the plant profiles rewritten (with a greatly expanded plant list, as one would expect). She is going to include many of the original illustrations and add up to 200 photographs in the new guide, expected out in 2011. Keep an eye out for its release.

Katherine’s own garden, approximately one-acre in size on a ridge above a seasonal creek called Happy Valley Creek, is a laboratory for living with natives, celebrating the seasons, and encouraging harmony with nature. It was profiled last spring in Diablo, the East Bay lifestyle magazine. You can read “Going Native,” the story, and see Saxon Holt’s lovely photography here.

I love the sweet display of drought-tolerant, cold-hardy hen-and-chicks in tall vessels

I had a quick trip to Oakland this past Wednesday and Thursday and Katherine graciously hosted me for an overnight before I gave a talk to the “Dirt Daubers,” an Orinda-based garden club.

Even though it was dreary and rainy out, I made sure to take a loop through Katherine’s garden. Seeing a native garden in winter is really a joy because the plants in fruit or in bloom are like little sparkling jewels that catch your eye against the silver-grey and green foliage and mahogany and white bark.

In the Diablo magazine article, written by Sandra Ann Harris, Katherine explains her commitment to designing with California natives:

“Gardening with these natural treasures is a way we can play a big role in preserving endangered plants and in making a connection to the place we live,” Greenberg says. “My garden won’t be complete in my lifetime, but it’s a celebration of our natural heritage.”

Here’s a little gallery of wintry photos to calm and sooth you. Thoughts of spring are accelerating as we catch glimpses of new growth emerging on stems and in swelling buds (especially after all the rain California has had – six consecutive days of it!).

I’ve been contributing to a fabulous daily blog called “Lifestyle Insights. Real Women. Real Life,” which a group of us launched last September. It’s something completely different than my other writing projects and has allowed me to do some fun, memoirish, essay writing in addition to writing about outdoor living and gardening topics. But since it’s still a blog post, I have had to learn how to communicate my ideas in 300 words or less! And in today’s world of bite-sized journalism, I guess that’s a good skill to have.

To work with a dozen incredibly talented women – each highly accomplished in her own field – has been so rewarding and inspiring. Each of us is committed to communicating contemporary trends and ideas for women like us. Together, we have a powerful voice that we hope will inspire and influence how corporations communicate with their audiences.

The group was founded by Robin Avni, a multi-talented, idea-a-minute galpal. I remember reading Robin’s home+technology design stories in the Seattle Times long before I was fortunate enough to meet her – which I recall was on a press preview of the former Seattle Interiors Show in 2004 or so. Thanks to the miracle of LinkedIn, we reconnected last year and got together a few times when I was in Seattle on business or to give a lecture. Robin invited me to join her dream team of 12 lifestyle experts. We are part of a creative media and consulting agency “specializing in consumer insights, trend analysis, research and content for the MOMMY TO MAVEN™ market.” You can read more about the firm here.

I’ve added Lifestyle Insights to my blogroll at the right (under “My other blogs”), so I hope you’ll subscribe to our newsletter and also check in from time to time to discover a fabulous recipe from Jean Galton, our food expert; a perfect organizing tip from Janna Lufkin, our simplicity expert; an insightful parenting tip from Kavita Varma-White; entertaining, beverage and spirits ideas from Kat Spellman; sustainability news from Celeste Tell, our green goddess; technology insights from Molly Martin, our tech-savvy mentor (Molly, a former health and fitness columnist, also keeps us “balanced” and healthy); wonderful stories told by Sherry Stripling, whose words capture the universal connections of women in all generations; explore fashion and twentysomething trends spotted by Alexandra Smith; and get the “big picture” from Robin Avni, who ties it all together with a finger-on-the-pulse instinct about women and their lifestyle choices. Our visual storytellers include photographer Angie Norwood Browne and Valerie Griffith, our video producer. It is an honor to share the page (screen) with these talented communicators.

Here are two of my recent essays, in time for a quiet winter’s read. I hope you enjoy them:

The Scarf Society 

Here are the Italy Gals, with a few of us in our scarves.

My recent visit to a medieval village in Tuscany (where I spent a week with ten of my girlfriends in a rented villa) is symbolized by a soft, colorful scarf.

Each woman had in common a friendship with me; some have been pals since my early twenties, while others are more recently dear. Individually, we couldn’t have been more different from one another. Throughout the week, though, we bonded as a group. We spoke with a familiar friendship-language, punctuated with laughter, and enhanced by delicious food, good wine and unforgettable scenery.

And there was something else: Our Italian scarves.

Street vendors in Siena and Florence offered a tempting array of scarves – cashmere-and-silk textiles woven of gold and maroon; apple green and sapphire blue; solid or paisley-patterned. Pretty soon, most of us had joined what I called the Scarf Society. It was October, so the soft cocoon of fabric draped over the shoulder was appropriate. But it wasn’t all about getting warm.

The scarves, shawls and pashminas made us feel sophisticated. Even the less-flamboyant women in our group gravitated toward the look. Wrapped once or twice around the neck; used as a shawl around the shoulders; or worn asymmetrically with the ends twisted together, these lengths of fabric had a way of making even a t-shirt and jeans look glamorous.

Was it the scarf or the place? Was it the mutual experience of kindred spirits or a fashion statement? I’m not sure. But now that I’m back at home, I feel elegant when I wear my woven tapestry with threads of pale yellow and dark green. And I will always remember the warmth of my friendships.

You could call it a fringe benefit of an unforgettable vacation.

And this one, called Labryinths:

I was so moved by watching the labyrinth walk at a "God in the Garden" conference that I spoke at a few years ago.

Centuries, or perhaps millennia old, the labyrinth is linked to both mythical and religious practices of many cultures. Where a traditional maze is designed with dead-ends and false pathways, a labyrinth is made of concentric rings, interconnected to form a single, continuous journey.

In modern times, the labyrinth is used for meditation and contemplation – a device to slow one’s step and encourage quiet, inward focus. I’ve walked on grass labyrinths shaped by a lawn mower, pebble beach labyrinths designed by unseen hands, and carved concrete labyrinths installed in church floors and on the forest floor, surrounded by trees. Intricately made or constructed for temporary use, the labyrinth is a gift to be cherished.

To walk a labyrinth, I am required to step away from the chronological clock and get lost in the moment. I enter and follow the path to the circle’s center. I pause to say a prayer or quietly murmur “thank you” or “peace.” Slowly, I retrace my steps, returning to the beginning. I discover that time has almost stood still. I feel a spiritual connection to nature and a lightening of the heart.

I once met an artist who required the use of a wheelchair. He meditated with a “visual” labyrinth. Installed in the center of his garden was an 18-inch-square miniature mosaic labyrinth. This incredible man journeyed the labyrinth with his eyes, beginning and ending at the same point, and experiencing the same meditative benefits as when I walked a full-scale labyrinth.

The return of this ancient pattern is really no surprise. We are busy people, with a lot on our minds. Consider how hard it is to unplug, silence internal or external chatter, and isolate ourselves long enough to listen to our inner voice. Perhaps you, too, will find peace by walking the labyrinth path.