Hyde Park, N.Y. is on the east side of the Hudson River.  It is where many rich folks built their mansions.  Hyde Park is home to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Springwood,” as well as his Presidential Library and Museum.  The Vanderbilt Mansion is in Hyde Park, too.  But we were there to walk the labyrinth at St. James’ Episcopal Church.

The church was closed due to COVID, but the labyrinth was easily found in the walled yard beside the church. 

It shares the space with a cemetery, a crypt, and several venerable, majestic trees. 

The labyrinth is a simple brick-lined path in the grass.  It is thirty feet in diameter in the classical style.  There was nothing particularly special about the construction of this labyrinth, but the location was the most peaceful, pleasant spot I’ve been in so far.  Maybe it was the presence of the cemetery that influenced the atmosphere. 

After we walked the labyrinth, we sat on the bench beneath the arbor and absorbed the calm. 

This was a place where time was altered.  Perhaps it was the age of the church and graveyard that spoke of the continuity of nature and the cycles of seasons. We felt welcome.