Robert and I stopped in to see how the pattern had faired over the last year. We'd colored the pattern in hot conditions and we wanted to see if it had weathered at all. The charcoal color was perfect, once we'd cleaned all the mud and silt off of the pattern.

Imagine a tropical paradise with live oak trees with plenty of shade just out of reach of the concrete work space turned solar reflector. It was hot and humid in Columbia!

We washed and swept the mud away to reveal the beauty of this pattern. There were three people in mostly torpid states of consciousness reclined on the swinging benchs around us. There is a raised bronze plaque placed right across the entrance to this pattern. When I saw it, I felt like the pattern had been vandalized. Even with all the silt on the pattern, I felt like the plaque blocked the entrance. It stuck up from the concrete over a half inch. It would easily trip an invalid. The names on the plaque were Colonial Supplemental Insurance and Palmetto Health. It said they 'sponsored' this labyrinth. I wish that the 'sponsors' were more sensitive to the energy of the place. Perhaps someone in a position of responsibility will have the plaque moved 3 feet to the right or left of the entrance?

If you know someone in a position of responsibility at Colonial Supplemental Insurance or Palmetto Health, please give them a call and ask them to move the plaque. It is interesting that this pattern is placed with the intention of healing and its entrance is blocked. The metaphor should not be lost. The symptoms of the blockage are all around; pattern covered with silt, stupified people around the pattern, a stagnant place in the city.

I spoke with a local business owner who was walking his dog at the edge of the park. He said that there are regular fights in the park between dopers and drinkers. It seems like cleaning up this part of town, just keeping by the labyrinth clean, would do something to improve the atmosphere here. People would be less afraid to come and walk the pattern.

I heard a story about a Big City clean up started by repairing broken windows. Next window boxes with flowers and herbs sprang up. Next, the public began to erase grafitti. The neighborhood looked and felt different. Crime declined. Creativity flourished. A neighborhood was reborn. This can happen at Maxcy Gregg Park.

Here is an image of the pattern after Robert and I had cleaned it.