This is the second year that my friend and labyrinth colleague Lars Howlett of Discover Labyrinths has created a labyrinth out of squash and pumpkins at the Santa Rosa National Heirloom Expo.
This year, along with some great volunteers, we got to assist him in the making of this colorful sixty-foot Santa Rosa Labyrinth. We even had a mascot perched at the entrance!
On the first day there was the marking out of the space and the design. Thanks to John, Mary-Rita, and Bruce, and despite a slight detour that afternoon (more on that in another post) we finished marking out the labyrinth in one day. Here is Lars running the outer circle, which was almost a quarter of a mile… Lars accepted a hands-up from John after collapsing to the earth from his feat!
On the second day the hay bales and squash/pumpkins were delivered. We began the daunting task of covering the lines and bales with bright and colorful squash and pumpkins in every size and shape imaginable!. We had a few more hands and feet to help! Besides John and Mary-Rita we were joined by Ray Cooper (coordinator of speakers for the Expo and our reason for being there), his son Mark along with Carmel, Emilie, Jene, Nicole and her son, and a few others who stepped in to bring the squash to their appointed labyrinthine places.
There was a lot of running back and forth and there was a still time to play around with these diverse and colorful “fruits.” Did you know that because squash have flowers and seeds that they are fruits and not vegetables? I did not know this until writing this post!
Somewhat quickly… the labyrinth began to really take shape… and then Lars put his attention to the heart-space…
And here was a fabulous treat at the end of our day! Video-photographer [David Grenewetzki of CalAriels Photography](http://www.calaerials.com/) took drone photos of the labyrinth and all of us walking it! Please enjoy this YouTube video of the Harvest Santa Rosa Labyrinth!