The Crystal Palace: In the Depths of Marengo Cave: Part I

 

The Crystal Palace: In the Depths of Marengo Cave

Marengo, Indiana, United States

By Sana Szewczyk

It took only one hour for me to feel like a newborn child again, a castaway, an alien, my position in the world among warm living people had been compromised. After only one hour deep underground in the depths of Marengo Cave I felt like I had never experienced the noise, scents, and sensations of the outside world. I felt like I had never existed at all. This is what a person hiding in the darkness for too long must feel. This must be what it feels like to be a hermit, isolated in a solitary place, dedicating all of her senses to meditation. A liberated prisoner of war must feel like this when he finds his way out into the light and fresh air. I tripped and slid over and over again, making my way up the slate steps to finally be pushed by a crowd of mostly Japanese tourists into the bright light. Deep underground the air does not move. It is perfectly still. Underground there is only absolute darkness, utter coolness, the roughness of the rock, the soft sound of water dripping from the ceiling and running down the rock creating enormous stalagmites and stalactites over thousands of years. Time is irrelevant.

Emerging from the earth, I was thrown back into the unbearable noise of humming air-conditioners and the myriad voices crashing against my ear drums. The relative warmth of air conditioned air that felt hot against my suddenly too sensitive skin. It made me feel feverish and itchy. There was suddenly an overwhelming stench of sweat, human skin, musky perfumes, and the raw leather of the trendy hobo bags hanging on the rack by the door to the store. The door, I leapt for the door handle, rushing to get away from the crowd.  As I tore the door open, the bell hanging over the door made a feeble “Ding!” which rung deafeningly in my ears. Once outside the hot humid wave of “fresh” air drowned me and I could not take a breath at all. My head swam as my eyes were blinded by the brightness of the sunlight.

I could focus until my eyes adjusted and then I saw my husband sitting in one of the wooden rocking chairs on the porch, waiting while a group of overactive kids tried to pet our bored dogs, an unlikely pair, a German Shepherd and a Lhasa Apso, lying at his feet. He looked up at me, the question is his eyes, “How was it?” I must have looked lost and confused. I was still overcoming my shock at discovering how much constant noise we are subjected to in our world. “I have…I want to go back,” I respond. “You need to feel it.”

When our group walked through the back entry of Marengo Cave I did not imagine this experience would be any different from our trip to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Here I was with my two young children and my younger sister, standing in a group of other adventurers waiting for our sixteen year old, slightly over-prepared guide, with khaki shorts and bright red shirt with his name embroidered on it. Brandishing a large flashlight, he led us into the hill side while trying to authoritatively tell us the rules of the tour: no flashlights, stay on the marked trails, keep your hands to yourself. I you touch a rock formation the natural oils on your hands will stop the growth. I glance over at my husband who is patiently waiting with our dogs near the gift shop. When I asked about taking our dogs on the tour I was told we could take them with us if we could carry them for about an hour as we made our way down the one mile long Dripstone Trail. I smiled to myself as I got the mental picture of one of us carrying our eighty pound German Shepherd like a wounded soldier in a war movie. Maybe another time, and with a stretcher.

As we entered what appeared to be a dragon’s cave in the side of a hill, I saw that the cave itself is very “American-style” accessible. Each chamber is brightened by colored lights strategically and aesthetically placed by the Light Masters who specialize in placing light systems in the rare caves. Here and there we saw branches off of the main trail. These smaller trails appear to be only a foot or two wide and short and are a part of the Crawling Tour of the cave. We passed the Elephant Head, a cluster of stalactites named for its shape. Our guided pointed out several types of rock formations including Draperies hanging off the ceiling, the almost transparent strips of Cave Bacon, Soda Straws, and Cave Popcorn. The power of suggestion and the fact that food is not allowed on the tour reminds us all that we are hungry.

To be continued…Click here to read Part 2

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2 responses to “The Crystal Palace: In the Depths of Marengo Cave: Part I

  1. I can’t wait for part 2! Thank you very much for a great description of calm of the cave and noise of the outside world. You showed beautifully how the one world is different from another and how we can be surprised by the silence and sound, scent and lack of fragrance.

  2. The total pitch darkness of a cave, while initially unnerving, is so calming. It leaves nothing but your inner essence, which is hard to get in touch with these days!

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