Best of 2009 Blog Challenge: Moment of Peace
Today's prompt on Gwen Bell's Best of 2009 Blog Challenge is MOMENT OF PEACE, and that's an experience I'm glad to relive. It came during a trip through eastern Nevada when I learned how the heart lights the dark. We camped in the darkest spot we could find in order to watch the Lyrid meteor shower. But it wasn't until the next day that I learned what darkness was. With it came my moment of peace...
| The Heart Lights the Dark originally posted April 23, 2009 What a great day yesterday turned out to be. We started it by scoping out the heavens and ended up in the bowels of the Earth. In the process I found out how the heart lights the dark.
Some smart astronomer deserves a thank you note, because just after midnight on April 22 as predicted, those things started blazing trails across the sky. What a show! I could try to count the number I saw by how many people I got to make wishes for...
Yes, the sum total of shooting stars I saw in a two hour stretch = more than People magazine covers in a week. But that's just an estimate. At some point I stopped analyzing and listened to some advice my Mother always gives me: Get out of your head and into your heart. I turned off my thinker, and just let the stars fall over me. Of course eventually the hiding sun heard "olly olly oxen free" and stuck its head in our tent. That kind of early start made what to do next an easy decision. We were already half way to Great Basin National Park — Half way to figuring out why it would be worth the trip from any starting point.
The park service has wired and lit it to show off this geologic marvel. But Jenny killed the switch and led us to the next "room" by candlelight so we could see it as the originals did. Light flickered off weird shapes on the walls, but you couldn't see much more than that. Then she blew out the candle to show us what the complete absence of light looks like. I thought I knew what darkness was. I did not. "OK, raise your hand if you want me to turn on the lights," came Jenny's voice through the black air. The few others on this strange journey laughed nervously, but who knows what looks of terror or peace were on their faces. I'm actually surprised my heart rate remained steady — I raised my hand simply because I love a good private joke. She didn't have to say "ta-da," when she turned on the juice. The crowd reaction implied it. What a world we'd found ourselves in! Jenny led us from chamber to chamber through a quarter mile of the cave, pointing out important features and teaching the science of them along the way. It was as if we were inside of a living organism — it had chambers and things that looked like valves and pulleys. Each one of those miraculous little phenomena started with a crack and calcified overtime from a constant drip. It was not unlike the human heart. We made it to the man-made exit tunnel, and Jenny wanted to show us one last thing. She kicked against the steel door sending a booming sound wave through the cave. It reverberated through all the chambers and then bounced back toward us, echoing through its own wake. The result made us gasp and shiver then laugh with absolute delight. The sound effect was unmistakable. The cave had a heart beat. A heartbeat! That's the sound of hope and health — strength and survival. Just what I'd asked for from those stars a few hours before. I started the day looking outside of myself for guidance and ended up finding what I needed in my own heart. What a feeling of peace to know that the most important of my wishes came true. I hope the same for you. |
What a fabulous story... meteor showers rock and feeling the heart-light in such present darkness.
Many kudos to you.
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Thank you -- I'm so glad we got the opportunity to experience it the way we did! Appreciate your comment.
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It's a good day to be reminded of my own strength. I need to keep in mind that we are given the tools both in our hearts and in our heads to make what we want and need out of life. "A heartbeat! That's the sound of hope and health — strength and survival." So true.
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Sometimes it's hard to know our own strength, but that's when friends are there to remind us: YOU ARE STRONG. xoxo
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I'm so happy to have found your story! I used to visit caves like that (lights on and off) as a child...you took me back instantly to those feelings of awe, wonder and a tinge of fear...so that when the lights came back on I felt an even greater thrill. Thank you for showing me!
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I had never visited a cave before, but now I'm sort of hooked. I bet it was really something to see places like this as a wild-eyed child! Thanks for your comment!
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Sounds amazing. The meteor shower in particular. Very well written, I feel like I'm there!
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It really was amazing -- the Lyrid shower is an annual event, but I've certainly never seen it like that. It just turns out to be pretty easy to find a remote (dark) spot in the desert. Thanks for your comment!
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