A Corn Maze

I'm not sure if there are corn mazes in Texas or not. I hadn't really heard of them personally until I got up here, but I also wasn't a frequent visitor of pumpkin patches and fall festivals when I lived in Texas either. So for the purposes of this blog, I'm going with my view that corn mazes are a New England thing. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Saturday afternoon we went to Lyman's Orchard. It's the typical New England store, apple orchard, pumpkin patch experience complete with ponies, kettle corn and hay rides. But this particular orchard also has a golf course and a corn maze. I've heard about the corn maze for years and always wanted to go and see one for myself. And as it turns out, it's exactly as it sounds: a big field of corn with paths cut out for kids to run through.

To help you navigate the maze, you could choose a map or slips of paper with numbered questions on them. When you reach a numbered sign (like below) you answer the corresponding question. Depending on your answer, you turn left or right. For example, one was a US history theme, one movies and television, one a Halloween theme and one for toddlers. We took the Halloween and the toddlers slips. So, a typical toddler question was: 5. Corn drinks A. Water (turn right) or B. Milk (turn left).

We walked through the maze. I had a fun time. It was a cute idea. I guess it took us 20-30 minutes or so to get through. (Mainly because David and Evan patiently let me wander around from dead end to dead end.) There was a wooden bridge in the middle where you could climb up and see the whole field. The paths were fairly narrow so you had to keep moving, but there were also spots with larger cleared areas for taking photos or to stand and regroup.

There is also a giant grocery store / candy shop / deli / bakery / restaurant / gift shop. We walked the place finding one treat after another. Since it's apple season there were apple pies, ciders, candied and caramel apples, corn lollipops and all sorts of Halloween treats. We set our sights on warm glazed apple cider donuts and fresh pressed cider.

Next to the checkout line were small bags of smashed corn with a sign: $0.75/lb duck food. And my inner four year old wanted nothing more than to feed the ducks. David grabbed a bag and we took our people and duck treats out to the water. We walked all the way around the lake to the place I wanted to stop. "It looks pretty steep here," David said, "Let's go over there." He pointed to a very sensible spot, but there were several little kids feeding the ducks. And while my inner four year old wanted to push through them all to find the perfect spot, I didn't dare interrupt the little ones getting a kick out of feeding the ducks. So, I slowly wandered back over to the original spot I found on a steep incline. Too steep for me really, so I sat down about midway down .... still too far to actually feed the ducks. So, I put my purse down and took out my camera to get a photo:

David came over and got the feed and walked down closer to the water to feed the birds. Evan and I stayed further up. I set my camera down to grab my drink and within a second it started rolling. "Oh no!" was about all I think to say. David turned and the camera rolled into the water just a foot or so from where he was standing. He reached down and scooped it up, but it was too late. Water had filled the camera. I pulled the card out quickly in hopes that I could save these last photos, and fortunately it worked.

So today my purse is a little lighter. My constant companion, my camera, is gone. I'm a little sad because I'm not exactly sure where this will leave the blog for now. David bought it for me when I moved here and I have taken it with me everywhere ... "Oh, let me get a photo for the blog!" ... constantly looking for photo opportunities in everyday things. It gives me a chance to share the photo with you back home. If the blog suffers for a little while, that's why. My apologies. Hopefully we will be able to replace it soon. Maybe I'll scan in some more old photos or do more writing. Not sure yet. If you have any ideas, let me know.