Meandering Missive: Halloween Corn 'Maize'

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Halloween Corn 'Maize'

How mortifying! It was one week ago TONIGHT that I rounded up a handful of brave souls to check out the Fremont Corn Maize. I can't believe I haven't blogged about it until NOW! *blush* Actually, I could have written about it any time, but I somehow didn't get around to Photoshopping all the digital pix until yesterday.

In case the above-linked website goes down a few months from this entry, here's a picture of what the 2005 maze looked like. As a California native, I appreciated this maze's theme, but it sure was funny how one path is going right into/out of the gold-panner's butt!

For years, I've wanted to check out the mazes of maize (aka "corn mazes") that crop up each October. This year, I decided to take the initiative and plan a trip -- or at least TRY! My online research showed that the most "local" mazes were in Hollister and Fremont, with perhaps another in the Half Moon Bay area. Fremont was obviously closer for most folks. The location was Ardenwood Historic Farm, which has done this for the past 6 years.

I printed a Yahoo map of how to find the Farm without verifying it on a real map. I also didn't even realize it was almost directly across the street from Karts N Golf, one of two places I celebrated my birthday in 2005. So, due to my lameness, Tony and I drove up and down Ardenwood Blvd. a few times and took a few wrong turns off the boulevard and kept missing the farm. Finally, we pulled into a nearby fire station (across the city limit in Newark!), where I asked for directions. *blush* Like many females I know, I too found myself a wee bit flustered and giddy in the presence of a group of firefighters! Fortunately, one of them knew exactly where Ardenwood Historic Farm was and helped me realize the error of my ways. (I'll definitely verify everything on my AAA maps from now on!)

During the day, it was a normal fun and challenging corn maze. On Friday and Saturday nights, however, it turned into a "haunted" maze with scary characters, props, etc. scattered amongst the corn to add fright to the night! I mistakenly thought it was haunted Sunday nights too, but that was only true for Sunday the 30th. Sorry about the boo-boo! :( But even without the added haunting, we still had fun! At least I did. :) How about you folks: Tony, Karrie, Dan, Dan, Bronwyn, MVA, Coleen and Larry? (Several others also wanted to attend, but couldn't)

Apparently some folks found it scary enough just being a cornfield at night, as last Sunday I overheard a maze visitor comment that it reminded them of the M. Night Shyamalan 2002 sci-fi/chiller Signs . In this movie, the crop circles in an American farmer's fields are portents of a malevolent alien invasion. One unnerving scene is when the farmer (played by Mel Gibson), searches through his cornfield at night, hearing the rustling of an alien and catching an ALMOST glimpse of one. As I was in the maze, I was thinking about 1999's sleeper hit The Blair Witch Project, but in retrospect I agree that Signs is a far better match.

In a different vein, one of the FUNNIEST things to happen at the maze was when my cellphone suddenly rang from the inside pocket of my jacket! As some of you know, my phone's ring is a bouncy, cheerful rendition of Minuet in G Major by J.S. Bach. This link provides a midi file of the real minuet; I couldn't find a clip of my actual polyphonic ringtone (which sounds more like the Disneyland Electrical Parade!) If you click on the link, I'm sure the melody will ring a bell (if not a cellphone! heehee)

The phone rang because Karrie called me, pretending to be frantic and fearful and "lost" somewhere in the maze (complete with screams in the background). It turned out she and some of the other group members weren't even far from us! ;D The high-tech-ness of the ringtone, not to mention the gleefully cheerful ring, were such a total antithesis to the whole maze experience that I couldn't help but LAUGH!!

One of the more interesting things about the maze was that every so often, you'd come to a post with a paper on it containing multiple-choice clues. Some were so easy we said "duh!", whereas some were so obscure we said "huh?" Flashlights, glowsticks or illuminated cellphones (haha) were a must for reading these clues. Next to each answer was the word RIGHT or LEFT; depending on your answers and your memory of how many right and left turns to make, you'd either wend your way successfully to the next clue, or get hopelessly lost in the corn!

But enough of my ramblings. I'm sure by now my gentle readers (remember Miss Manners calling everyone that?) are eager to see the photos from the trip. Well, here they are! As always, you can click on a photo to view a larger version.

MVA emulates a gracious game show hostess as she reminds us of the maze rules, which are enforced by the 'corn cops'.

Coleen and Larry prepare to venture forth into the maze of maize; their smiles belie the fear that grips their hearts!

Tony and Shari are dwarfed by the vastness of the maze.

Intrepid trio Karrie, Dan and MVA as seen from a bridge above the corn, as the vampiric strangers behind them recoil from the light.

Tony studies one of the clue sheets, determined to ensure our escape, not seal our doom!

We all celebrate our eventual emergence from the maze. But wait! Aren't two guys from the group missing?

The celebration continues. The light from my hands is not the result of shouting "Lumos!" (HP ref. for Karrie's amusement). I was actually just using my mag light to help the photographer see where we were in the dark!

Today I am feeling spooky.

posted by ScaryShari @ 7:18 PM

2 Comments:

At 8:37 PM, ScaryShari said…

It wasn't the same without you and DH. :( Hopefully you did well on your exam after all this studying!

I'll try to plan another fun corn maize outing next year, so mark both of your calendars now! *grin*

P.S. In a weird sort of way, it reminded me a wee bit of Ren Faire. I think it was the traipsing around in the dark and almost tripping part! <;D
At 9:41 PM, Unknown said…

Dangit, there are (or were?) a bunch of geocaches at Ardenwood. And I had never heard of this maze; I would have loved to have gone. Maybe next year. :)

About Me