After our busy day yesterday walking around towns and cemeteries, we decided to
explore a little further out. While there was another cemetery and another
drive down some gravel roads, it was a relatively light agenda. With a loose
schedule in our minds, we got on the highway and drove further south down to
Roanoke. Actually, we drove past the city and pulled into the parking lot for
Dixie Caverns. That’s right, no matter where we are, there is always a cave to be explored.
With
the sky looking more temperamental than usual, it was the perfect day to walk
through a cave in order to stay cool and dry. While we were thrown off a bit by
the cats wandering around the property (which complicates things due to my wife’s
severe allergy) they kept their distance from our small tour group allowing us
to walking up an into the weathered entrance. As soon as we walked through the
threshold, we knew this was going to be a lot of climbing… more than any other
cave we have ventured into… as the stairs and moss covered lights lined the
carved path.
While
most people see all caves as basically the same thing and wonder why people
explore different ones wherever they go (my father is one of those people),
having been through a number of different caverns I have noticed the slight
differences in the landscape. In this particular instance, the ceiling…
…and
the walls…
…were
a little more interesting than the other caves that my wife and I have toured
over the last few years. This is especially true when the tunnel began to open
up…
…our
eyes adjusted, and some of the interesting formations were pointed out to us
like the wedding bell…
…the
sharp teeth of the T-Rex…
…and,
later on in the tour, the large turkey wing.
However,
what I really find impressive in each space that we explore are the places
where people aren’t looking.
I
usually find myself turning around and looking the opposite way sometimes
falling behind the group just to find a different perspective, a different cavernous
veranda. That is when I am met with images like the one at the beginning of
this post and this one looking down at where we were once walking.
It
is all about perspective in these spaces regarding both the environment immediate
surrounding you and the lens through which you view it. Just as all landscapes
above ground consist of the same elements, none of them are exactly alike. Each
landscape is different… some more than others… and sometimes there are little
surprises when you adjust your eyes to take it all in like seeing the sky in
the stillness of a lake or, as was the case today, seeing the colors, shapes,
and patterns of the cave reflected in a pond. These are the images that make us
want to explore underground just as we explore above ground.
