We headed out at 7 a.m. to get to the beach by 9:30 before the tide came back in. This was in Bandon, which is about 2.5 hours from Eugene. I didn’t drive. I was on the bus with about 15 others with the parks & rec group.
I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of multiple conversations on the bus in the background, they were like moving water or rain tapping on windows. Each voice had a rhythm that I paid more attention to than what was said.
It was a whole group of women until I spotted one man after we got there. We seemed surprised to see each other.
I’m going to drop photos, that is the main purpose of this post!
I talked to the meditational labyrinth volunteers. One held a bowl of agates at the start, we got to pick one to take home.
They said they never preplan what they are doing. They just get there, look at the sand, conditions, then decide where it will begin and end and each person begins and builds off the other.
The wind was blowing and it was on the cool side.
It took a half hour to walk it, which flew by.
The big rocks just off the edge of water reminded me of paintings, especially Face rock. The lighting and texture looked almost unnatural, like of the earth and also something that slightly glows. You can’t see this in a photograph.
Birds nest here.
There are other rocks nearby called Cat and Kittens. I’m not sure which ones.
I found starfish, or are they sea stars? I’ll have to look that up.
I touched one very carefully. It felt softer than it looked. They looked very healthy.
I had a conversation with the ocean.
I could see the tide start to come up and creep toward the labyrinth.
At one point walking the circuitous path, I thought we might run into each other but we never did. I let it go and accepted it worked. I didn’t need to know how.
A meditative labyrinth is different than a maze because there are no dead-ends or tricks along the way.
The approach is these three things:
Release (the way in). Let go.
Receive (the center). Listen.
Return (the way out). Bring it forward.
Kind of like waves.
We went into town for lunch. I wandered around, learned more about the Coquille river. I have always pronounced it ko-keel, but the native pronunciation is ko-kwell.
I went to the Bandon historical society museum.
There were photographs of people caught in time, some in the middle of doing chores in a field. Their essence of so many years ago beamed forth. Some really sweet expressions. In fact one family was named Sweet.
Other items included a life jacket made of cork; a Chatty Cathy doll, and many photos of riverboats. They had names like Pronto/ Dispatch/ Charm/ Favorite/ Telegraph.
I had to get back to the bus to go home. We stopped at a farm stand for cherries.
I think our days can include elements of making a labyrinth walk. We have a general plan, check out conditions, pick parameters, and then build off each other.
Releasing, receiving, returning.
