Uncanny Valley

If you’ve read my previous posts on labyrinths you will know I only grudgingly accept the modern terminology. A labyrinth differs from a maze because the former has only one path, and the latter forks. Well this labyrinth has a branch, as seen in my photo above. Sure, it’s only a dead-end path that goes for about 25 cm. Though the nice people at the church have described it as a “rest stop.”

I had been getting a little tired of the same old circle-shaped labyrinths, so I was happy that this one was in a half-oval shape. The church is very pretty as well, without being ornate (it is Protestant, after all). Overall, a very nice place.

The labyrinth is on the second floor, and is open as long as there isn’t any other event going on there.

This labyrinth (i.e. one path, no forking) is at the main entrance of the California Pacific Medical Center, above the loading dock. A plaque says it is in the Robert E. Burns Memorial Court (in recognition of his inspirational leadership, April 2, a973). Despite being called a garden, there are only a few rosemary plants here. Even though the labyrinth is outdoors, it is at a hospital, so no smoking.

This is a labyrinth on a raised concrete platform, with the design made of pebbles cemented on top. Many of the pebbles are rubbing off from the traffic. This is one of those labyrinths without any choices in the path. It is on the University of San Francisco campus in Harney Plaza between Harney Science Center and the University Center. USF is a Catholic school, so this was intended to have a meditative and spiritual purpose, like many other labyrinths.

I had heard a little here and there about this place for a while, and when I got a free ticket for the holiday lights and the rest of the park, I decided to finally rive way down to Gilroy, the garlic capital, and Bonfante Gardens. I had seen a few pictures of trees with several trunks, or in arches and loops and other strange things. These are still here, but they seem to be ever dwindling portion of the park, sadly.

It seems this place suffers from the shadow of Disney, in that anything in California must eventually become an amusement park. But unlike Knott’s Berry Farm, this one specializes in rides for small children. The scariest ride was a pirate-ship-styled one in the shape of a banana. There was a maze that was ok, and I really did like the lights and trees, but between the almost $30 admission fee for a single adult, and the fact that we were the oldest people there without a small child, it was not really worth it. I’m not even sure I would go if I even had kids, as the prices were trying to hard to compete with Disney even though the rides weren’t that special. However, many families in a much higher tax bracket seemed to disagree with me, though it was never so crowded I had to wait longer than 5 minutes for a ride.

I wish I could see a park of the circus trees by themselves. Even if the amusement park stuff were up to snuff, it still wouldn’t be worth it to go here for the trees alone. That kinda depresses me.

One labyrinth is basically the same as another to me. I don’t get too spiritual about them as many others do, and I’m always a little disappointed that they aren’t mazes.

Yet I still enjoy visiting them. I enjoy trying to find where they are, hiking out to them, looking at the scenery, and zig-zagging along the labyrinth’s path. Sure, maybe due to their abundance, they should be on their own site (and there are those out there for them), but they share some important things with the other attractions on this site: They are hidden somewhat from the mainstream, and they are fun.

That said, this labyrinth is in old quarry in a regional park (Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve). Understandably, the paths are demarcated with rocks. There is one main circular labyrinth in the center of the pit, and a smaller one on a ledge behind it. The North end of the larger labyrinth is a puddle/pond in the rainy season in which newts and other critters breed in, so watch your steps.

The views on the drive here are fantastic, and continue on foot on the trail. From the ranger station take the Round Top Loop Trail to the quarry pit (labeled 4 on the brochures and maps on the site). It’s about a ½ mile trek involving some small hills. Somehow I did not realise the trail was a loop, and went back the way I came, but if you go counterclockwise you will need to go past a gate for grazing animals. I’d imagine there would be one on the other side as well though.

Note no dogs are allowed at the labyrinth.

This labyrinth is a healthy walk from Land’s End where the U.S.S. San Francisco Memorial is. You can either go down the stairs by the Memorial to get to the Coastal Trail, or go up Camino del Mar as it becomes a train and go down the next set of stairs. Basically when you are facing the ocean head Northeast/left. You’ll see a sign and the first instance you can go downhill/makai from the Coastal Trail, and this will point you towards Mile Rock Beach. This is where you want to go. Basically it’s the piece of land closest to that foghorn/lighthouse that’s in the Golden Gate Straights (Mile Rock Light). The labyrinth is above the beach atop a small cliff, with a good panoramic view that includes the Golden Gate Bridge.

The labyrinth is a single winding path with no forks that is made up of rocks and gravel. I think the walk down here was just as fun as the labyrinth itself.

There is no camping allowed here, and all pets must be on a leash.

There sure do seem to be a lot of labyrinths in the Bay area. It did take me a while to find out about them though, even living here, so maybe there are labyrinths everywhere. This one is on campus to the East of the Cunningham Memorial Chapel. There is a large map at the entrance with a bunch of smaller maps you can take with.

Again though, this is a labyrinth-style labyrinth and not a maze-style. As much as I disagree with the poor coinage of these as technical terms, I realise that we do indeed need more exact words to differentiate these wandering paths. So yea, this thing has no forks in the road, just one path to the center. Though the paint is fading and the asphalt is cracked. The outermost part especially is a little hard to figure out. It appears it may be a student art project, so they get kudos for that. I made out a few names written on the lines: Patricia Hollis, Kristen Andreatta, Vanessa Ahern, Doris Arrington. There are also stations along the outside with virtues written along them, though those were harder to piece together.

So not that exciting on the whole, nor that horrible, but then again it is Belmont so what else is going on? I must say though that despite my skepticism labyrinths are growing on me. I still need to find a good maze though.

I read a lot about the difference between a labyrinth and maze. They would like you to believe that a labyrinth is just a single windy path with no options, and a maze has forking and you can actually get lost in. However, the word labyrinth comes from the olde tale about the Minotaur. King Minos of Crete hid his beastly stepchild in the Labyrinth, and there it stayed until Theseus snuck in to kill the Minotaur. Now at this point, the proper-noun Labyrinth could be a branching maze or a windy lover-cased labyrinth. It could even be a big pit, as the only clues we have is that those sacrificed to the Minotaur can not escape.

Note my use of the word clue, as this word is also derived from this myth of the Minotaur. Theseus used a ball of yarn, known as a clue so as to not get lost in the Labyrinth. Now I don’t know about you, but if the Labyrinth were a labyrinth and not a maze, one wouldn’t need a ball of yarn to find a way out. One could simply turn around and go back.

Sure, maybe Theseus just thought it were a maze and it really was a labyrinth when he actually got there. If that were the case though, I don’t think we would remember the story after two millennia about how Theseus was overprepared and threw his useless string away. Let alone would we still be using the word for his string today.

Ok, now that that’s off my chest, the two things here (the indoor one and the outdoor one) are the winding-path labyrinth type: no choices involved. But the point isn’t to get lost, it is to contemplate life’s twisty road in an Episcopal form of mindful meditation. Not that you have to take this on as a spiritual thing, but you should be aware of that and respect others that will be working towards illumination. I myself and not religious, but while wandering I found the experience fun and soothing at the same time. The ambient organ music inside didn’t hurt in that respect.

So while this may not be for everyone, it may surprise you. I love getting lost in mazes, and thought I’d be disappointed here, but was not. If you do think you need a little more, head downstairs to the crypt level and check out the shop. They have all sorts of labyrinth-related items (Labyrinth sarongs, anyone?). amoung the other religious paraphernalia.