Labyrinth

Except for a couple of shorn pools of grass, the front lawn at Pam White's Glyndon home is virtually all garden. Sculpted Japanese maples anchor one side of the slate walk, which is banked by broad, undulating beds of perennials and shrubs. A small conifer -- a dwarfed "natural bonsai" rescued from years of crowding -- now holds pride of place in a little mulched lay-by. Bronze fennel, planted for the swallowtail butterflies, and cleome, for the Baltimore Checkerspot butterflies, wave beside the breezeway.

Some start the New Year with a resolution to lose 10 pounds or make a career change. But about 90 retreat participants at Bon Secours Spiritual Center spent New Year's Eve giving a jumpstart to the enrichment of their spiritual lives or improvement of their relationship with God. Larry Saunders of Columbia said he was "recapping this year [2001] and thinking about the next year," 2002. His wife, Susan, agreed, saying that if she were at home, she would be rushing around rather than "doing something contemplative."

Noting "serious, serious concerns," a federal immigration court judge ordered yesterday three men who were arrested in a Northwest Baltimore apartment Sept. 10 held without bond for an additional two weeks to give the FBI time to complete an investigation of possible terrorist activity. Judge Lisa Dornell ordered the men - two from Pakistan and one from Afghanistan - to remain in Immigration and Naturalization Service custody until an Oct. 7 bond hearing. In making her decision, the judge noted an FBI probe into the detainees posing a possible threat to national security.

This year's Oscar season is hard upon us, and once again, Baltimore cinephiles are being left in the dark. Of the five movies nominated for best foreign language film, only two - Mexico's Pan's Labyrinth (the favorite) and Canada's Water - have opened in Baltimore. Denmark's After the Wedding, Algeria's Days of Glory and Germany's The Lives of Others all have received rave reviews. But for now, none seem destined for Charm City screens. That's a shame, because interest in all three films will never be higher.

Camille Solis said she felt the presence of God when she first saw a narrow footbridge gently arching across a placid fish pond behind the Bon Secours Spiritual Center in Marriottsville."

Hadassah to hold pool party Aug. 26 Howard County Hadassah will hold an end-of-summer pool party 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 26 in Clarksville. Reservations are requested by Aug. 15. The cost is $10 a family. Checks should be sent to Hadassah of Howard County, P.O. Box 238, Simpsonville, 21150-0238. The nonprofit organization is open to women of all ages. The organization promotes health awareness programs and community-based educational, Zionist and youth programs. Information: 410-531-6476 or www.hocohadassah.

First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ellicott City will present a performance by The Predestined, a Ugandan song and dance troupe focused on raising awareness and support for the victims of AIDS. The performance, which emphasizes endurance and faith, is scheduled from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 26 at the church, 3604 Chatham Road. An offering will be taken, and child sponsorships will be available. Proceeds will benefit the AIDS Orphan Education Trust, a nongovernmental organization in Uganda providing homes and education to orphans and widows whose parents or spouses have died of AIDS.

The voice on the voice mail was a familiar one, my husband's, and the message was the one he always leaves: Call me when you get a chance. Not: "Have you heard the news, call me!" -- the life-shortening message he left the day the Yankees traded David Wells for Roger Clemens. Just: "Call me when you get a chance."I got a chance."I broke your labyrinth," he said, without preamble. "I'm sorry. I was dusting, and I knocked it over. I don't think it can be fixed.""Oh," I said. And then I didn't say anything for a very long time.

Gardenville is so named because it actually was once Baltimore's garden. It was the premier truck farming region where the city got most of its fruits and vegetables.Houses now stand where tomatoes and beans once grew at Belair and Moravia roads. But this coming spring the community will be getting a new and very unique kind of garden. A labyrinth walk and meditation garden will be built in front of St. Anthony of Padua's Roman Catholic Convent on Frankford Avenue."It's part of a program called `Sacred Places -- Open Spaces' which attempts to put places of peace and beauty in urban areas," said Gloria Carpeneto, a pastoral associate.