Short Takes Short Takes (December 07, 2005)

Labyrinth's labor lost

It's as if it never existed.

The circular labyrinth, a flat set of seven concentric circles, that a Menlo Park woman laid out on an empty field along La Loma Drive in Sharon Hills Park is gone. Gone, too, are the sticks, brick fragments and stones that the woman used to trace the circles.

Don Steiger, who lives next to the field and has walked the labyrinth, says that he misses it. It had been up for about a month, but a Menlo Park city worker, acting on orders, came and removed the structure, he says. City officials could not be reached by the Almanac's deadline on Monday.

Navigating a labyrinth is said to encourage a meditative state in the walker.

There is another labyrinth in Menlo Park but it's unlikely to disappear any time soon -- a wood-inlay labyrinth covers a chapel floor at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on Ravenswood Avenue.
Only Jesus knows for sure

Every once in a while, an event that redefines chutzpah comes along. Or perhaps it was an honest mistake. At any rate, at a recent service at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, someone ponied up a counterfeit bill when the collection plate came around.

The church's bank reported a bogus $5 bill was found in a November collection, said Sgt. Mike Amaral of the Menlo Park police department.
Better to give than to receive

The holiday spirit is alive and well in the hearts of local kids.

Woodside Girl Scout Troop 329 hosted a holiday party at the Woodside Village Church to give gifts to San Mateo County children in foster care on December 2, reports Ruth Gorrin. It's the second year that the girls have pitched in to brighten the holidays for foster kids, says Ms. Gorrin, the troop's leader.

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