GreenUp Festival 2023 Highlights
Children exploring the labyrinth -
Photo credit: Heidi Smith
There is a child care center a block away from the Barge Canal. A few days after our May 6 GreenUp Day Festival, one of the teachers decided to take the children on a field trip to visit the labyrinth that we had built. Studying the map ahead of time they learned about directions, symbols, what distance looks like on paper, but what really happened is they got very curious about the Place represented on the map. Here they are in the labyrinth, having found their way past the Guardians and through the field.
We had far less garbage to haul out this year, so there was time to cut buckthorn in the area just west of the Kahuna (see map). That central area is now open and breathing again.
Cleanup - Photo credit: John Howard
For this year’s GreenUp Day, we also planned for other activities including the creation of several Barge Canal “Guardians" from found materials which now greet anyone who arrives at the main gate on Pine Street.
Back to the children finding their way to the labyrinth - it is a traditional 8 circuit labyrinth built out of driftwood from Burlington’s beaches that had washed up onshore during Spring’s high water.
You too can find your way if you want to go directly using the delightful map - drawn by Marcy Kass, or you can simply take a walk across the land and discover whatever you discover. Hopefully, if you find yourself at the Labyrinth, hopefully, you will be drawn to walk into it. In case you have the idea of a maze, this is not that, you can NOT get lost in a labyrinth. There are no wrong turns! But it doesn’t lead into the center in a logical manner like a spiral does - getting closer with each turn. Instead, you are sometimes almost there, then suddenly you find yourself in the outer ring. Eventually, with a little persistence, you find your way to the center. The kids did. You can too. We hope you will also find your way into the center of the Barge Canal and maybe even find yourself enjoying the feeling of being lost in a wild place right in the middle of Burlington’s south end.
“Walking the labyrinth”
Video credit: Carolyn Bates
