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Guy-James, Tennessee, Part Three
Guy-James, March, 2008, Part Three
We admired the scene in silence for awhile, and then turned to go. As I dropped down among the beams of light and clear water I saw the line continue on upstream and turned to look up there. I glanced back to Mike, but he was not with me! I looked up and there he was, fingers pinched on nose. We returned to the surface.
"I can't equalize one ear," Mike told me.
I looked around and replied, "Well, I suppose we could take off our gear and try to climb up the soft slope and loose debris. I see a couple of spots we might not make it and there's some pretty big stuff at the top that we might dislodge to come down on us, but if we're slow and careful we might make it ok. Then hike back to the truck and come back with the rope and try to haul our gear out of here."
"I'll try to equalize again." Mike decided. We dropped down again and again he could equalize, so again we surfaced. And again we looked at our option - climbing the slope. One more time Mike decided to try to equalize and this time I remained on the surface watching him descend and signal ok as he settled just above the bottom at 30 feet deep. I dropped down beside him and led the way back and home. Back through the convoluted debris filled passage into the tree-lined wide road, and to the rocky chunky plain where I came face to face with a three inch albino eyeless Southern Cavefish! Hey! I Exclaimed! Surprise, surprise, and how nice to see you! These little fish, whitish, transparent enough you can see their organs, which filled with blood create a pinkish glow through the translucent white, have been one of my favorites in our Tennessee caves. I've read everything known about them and have personally been documenting them in our systems. It's always nice to meet another one.
Our swim back was as usual more dedicated to leaving than sight-seeing. And when we came the T, then the clay mound, then the first T, I realized we had a bit of current and I fin a couple of times and coast nicely - gliding along until the drag of my bulk slowed me to the speed of the slight current - too slow. It was fun kicking and gliding along with the feel of the water pressuring my suit against my skin. It was a velvet moment when the density of substance you move through and the effortless motions that propel you fill your senses and for a moment you experience the wonder of space and the release from time. You flow through the water and feel every part of it from every part of you; the slightest turn of the wrist, or twist of a shoulder, is an act of consequence. A fin bent so, or raised a molecule, sends vibrations, alters the form and the feel and these subtle messages spread out endlessly, infinitely, connecting to all in the vast cosmos.
We rounded a corner I did not remember, a wall broken into platforms, undercut and jutting out, in a steppe fashion down to the bottom. The ceiling far above, out of sight, the layered platforms of limestone, sharp but delicately edged, almost glowing in the light, and the dark turn of the passage highlighting the wall broke my revere and brought me back from the cosmos to this alien part of our planet, where few have ever gone before, where life is not as we know it. And there ahead was the natural light of the cavern zone so I slowed down to enjoy the last few minutes of our dive.
We piddled around, poking among the loose small rocky gravel and shining our lights into undercuts to peer into the darker areas, then recovered the reel and ascended. We secured our gear and tested the rope that hung down to the water. Mike hoisted himself up on his feet, then climbed on knees, then huff-and-puffed to a stand slowly slogging up the embankment hand over hand. It was mine turn and I did the same thinking that surely I would break a bone in the process, not from falling or bumping, but from the strain of muscle and tendon stretching beyond endurance of mere bone. But I too slogged on up unbroken, pausing along the way to catch my breath and enjoy the being alive.
We packed the truck, went to lunch, and Mike dropped me off back at work where I changed clothes in my office, cleaned up a bit, and then sat at the computer back at work as if I'd been there all day dutifully punching away at the keyboard.
and that's the end of this report.
-skip
