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Kanuga labyrinth


The concrete, Chartres-style labyrinth at Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina, was built by Robert Ferre of Labyrinth Enterprises, LLC.

I attended the UMMAS fall retreat Sept. 9-12 at Kanuga where the retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong spoke on four separate occasions. Based on his remarkable research and insight into the nature of the human experience, Spong joins Jimmy Carter and Fred Rogers in my personal list of people I admire for living honestly. Spong's book Jesus for the Non-Religious covers much of his philosophy according to my knowledgeable companions, Virginia and Robin.

Spong's mantra is: "Live fully; love wastefully; be all that you can be."

The view from the "rocker porch" at Kanuga Lodge across the tiny mountain lake inspired lovely day dreams.

The Kanuga Knitting and Quilting Retreat will be held January 15-18, 2009. Among other delights, Jean Ann Wright will lead a workshop on her "Rock 'n' Roll" quilt, seen here:

On our way to Kanuga, we stopped at the new Kentucky Artisan Center just off Exit 77 on I-75 near Berea, Kentucky, where we admired this gorgeous snowflake patterned quilt and had a yummy lunch of Hot Brown.

The Hot Brown was a triple-decker, sandwich with hot, sliced turkey and ham layers topped with white sauce and a grilled, tomato slice criss-crossed with rashers of crisp bacon. This was very good.

The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea was opened July 30, 2003. The 25,000-square-foot building was built on 10-acres of property at a cost of $8.75-million by contractor D.W. Wilburn of Lexington, Kentucky and was designed by Myers Jolly Architects also of Lexington. I loved the art-glass window panels designed by Kenneth von Roenn, Jr. of Architectural Glass Art, Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky.

And to add to my collection of fascinating rest stops, here is a sculpture that adorned the grounds of a welcome center on I-40 near Knoxville, Tennessee. The visitor's center featured a log cabin wing.

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