Sunday, March 29, 2009

In Total Darkness

After the Fort Knox fiasco we headed across the Ohio River into Indiana. (Needed to put some distance and a state line between us and the trouble we almost found ourselves in.) Plentiful in this area of Kentucky and Indian are caves and caverns. We visited the Squire Boon Cavern. (Squire Boone was the brother of Daniel Boone.)It wasn't the most impressive cavern I've ever seen, but nine stories below the surface of the earth, it had a unique beauty all it's own.
Photos were difficult to get as the lighting was not good (but what can you expect below ground).
Creepy looking! Try clicking on each individual photo. If it works correctly, they should "blow up" for you and you will see some remarkable detail!
There were several "named" formations, some I could see and some I couldn't. (Kind of like seeing animals in the clouds.) Our guide had ADD or ADHD or both. She talked really fast as she twitched and paced and flailed her hands. The echo of the cavern and the high speed of her rote made it very difficult to understand what we were looking at. I think this is a wedding cake.
I hope you can see the stream of water falling from above.
Drip, Drip, Drip
An underground waterfall. This cavern had a river flowing through it. I'm not talking about trickling water working its way through cracks in the stone, I'm talking a real underground river. I've never seen water so crystal clear. (I got thirsty!)
Water dripping from hollow "soda straws."
Some day they may actually get together!

I was surprised how well some of my photos turned out considering the darkness of the cavern. I won't bore you with all of them.

If you have ever visited a cavern, I'm sure your guide pulled the usual stunt of turning out all the lights so you could experience total darkness. Before our twitching fast-talker hit the switch she explained that in total darkness, our ears would work better and we would be able to hear the sounds of the cave. I got excited!

But then I was sadly disappointed because she never shut up long enough for me to hear anything before she turned the lights back on. Oh well, maybe next time. I did, however, have time to try to see my hand in front of my face. I couldn't.

I've ponder the phrase "total darkness" several times since returning to the light of the sun which illuminates the surface of the earth. In Genesis we read about total darkness and how God spoke, dispelling the darkness.

There are a lot of scriptures that talk about darkness, both physical and spiritual. God created the sun, moon, and stars to take care of the physical darkness. Yet still it's His signature to speak, dispelling the darkness of our souls.

So the next time you find yourself in total darkness, listen carefully for the voice of the Lord. (Hopefully your tour guide will hush long enough for you to hear Him.)

5 comments:

sharilyn said...

thanks for the cave adventure!! when i was a kid, we went on a tour through Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. it was amazing! and that total darkness thing was unbelievably dark! there were strange blind fish and cave crickets, too. the experience was unforgetable...i'd love to do it again, especially now that i have far more photographic experience and interest!

Brittney said...

A long time ago. ( I didn't even know where Dumas was). we went to TN. There was a cave we went into and at the end was a Waterfall. I remember it being really huge. It made me feel really small. ( Lots of things do that).

Cindy said...

I love the pictures that you have here. I want to go back and make them bigger sometime soon. We have a cavern here but I have not gotten to go. It actually fills up when the aquafer get to a certain point. It was there last year and that is what I wanted to see. Jon and the girls got to but I got sick and didn't get to go. I will someday. I was thinking when you were talking about thinking about the dark and spiruality. Our pastor has been doing a sermon series and the gist of what he is saying ties in here. He is talking about the life of someone who is just acting the life of a Christian and one that is a genuine Christian. That dark side was me for so long and it gives me the chills to think of the difference inside since seeing the light as a genuine Christian. Just a thought. Thank you for sharing these. I think they are awesome.

Lavonda Pflug said...

Thanks girls for sharing your experiences and hearts. Won't heaven be grand when we can all share our experiences, realizing that though God created each of us so unique, we are also so much alike?

Karen said...

Enjoyed the pictures, and especially your story. The analogy reminds of the many "tour guides" I have let hinder me while listening for the voice of the Lord. Great post!