Children Of The Corn

Last Sunday, Sean and I got to indulge the child within each of us at Meadow Maze in Pitt Meadows. We were city mice transformed into country mice for the afternoon.

And how could we not be?

Meadow Maze’s attractions include a petting zoo, hay wagon rides, train rides and a huge labyrinth of a corn maze. Each year the 17 acre field of corn would be landscaped into a different design. The average time to complete the maze is about an hour and a half.

Sean and I wandered the 7 foot high mammoth corn maze for 20 minutes or so, taking pictures and walking in what seemed like circles. It reminded us of the scene at the end of The Shining, where Danny “redrum” Torrance runs into the snowy labyrinth with crazed Jack Nicholson in pursuit. Well, except for the snow. And the fact that we didn’t leave any footprint tracks.

Twenty minutes and we only made it to check point 2 in the maze. There are 12 check points.

Although we couldn’t see them, we could hear other people all around us, trying to make their way through the maze. A bird’s eye view would probably have us looking like rats in a maze.

Although the maze is outside and the sky is right above you the entire time, I can see how people who are claustrophobic might feel uncomfortable in the maze. The path was so narrow that Sean and I almost couldn’t walk side by side. The corn stalks are pretty high and tightly spaced. But if you lose your friend (or they ditch you as a really bad joke) and find yourself panicking and without a cell phone, there are roaming corn cops you can call out to for help.

Of course being in a corn field, one inevitably ends up talking about the Stephen King movie, The Children of the Corn. Were it overcast, dreary, cold or at twilight, I probably would’ve put the kibosh on the talking about “he who walks behind the rows”, the evil who gets the cuh-reepy children of a small town to murder all the adults, thus ensuring a successful corn harvest.

And you can’t think of corn fields without thinking of “If you build it, he will come” Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner. Upon exiting the maze, I half expected to find a baseball diamond, bleachers and Shoeless Joe standing on the mound.

But enough of the corn maze.

The corn maze was nice, oh for about 20 minutes, (it is stalks of corn as far as the eye could see, after all) but what Sean and I really wanted was some petting zoo action.

There were billy goats, bunnies galore, chickadees, pot-bellied pigs, a completely shaved save for the head llama (oh, the humiliation) and miniature ponies, amongst other animals. We were in kiddy heaven.

We had billy goats follow us around everywhere. One even finding Sean’s shirt too delectable to resist.

By happenstance, we found ourselves in the petting zoo right before feeding time. So we got to watch all the animals chow down on corn kernels or corn husks.

This little billy goat slept through lunch time. Wonder if there’ll be any leftovers for him?

The little chick chicks were adorable. I was so paranoid that I would step on them by accident, they were so teeny. It was so cute how they followed the mother hen around and pecking at the corn cob, each trying to get theirs.

But oh my gosh, the bunnies! The bunnies were my favourite at the petting zoo. They were just so darn cute. With their big stubby bunny feet. I just wanted to take all of them home with me, especially the one with the racing stripe down its back.

Last but not least, we hung out with the miniature ponies. We grabbed handfuls of hay from the hay ride to entice the ponies over to us. They were so sweet, docile and had the softest fur. Now I understand why little girls ask for a pony for their birthdays.

Sean and I really felt like we hit the jackpot, getting to spend the afternoon with the animals. We both love animals. dare I say it? I dare. Even more so than people sometimes.

We were both in our element and I had a lot of fun photographing Sean. Upon reviewing our pictures, one feeling kept coming through in all the pictures. That of joy and peace.

The wonders of animal therapy. I think they do more for us than we could ever do for them.

View more photos of Meadow Maze on my Flickr album here and here.