Flexibility and Fun

Update on the Squelon:  It is most likely a pumpkin of some sort. 

Learning to live simply is learning to let go, use what you have, and go with the flow.  My first thirty years were somewhat regimented with myself usually playing the commander.  Things had to be this way; we had to eat at this hour; homework had to be done before fun could be had.  I lived a life of very little flexibility.  I'm not sure why this is, but anyhoo...

Working a farm and raising a child has shown me that one has to be flexible.  The world will go on if you all have french toast for dinner.  In fact, the world will go on if said child doesn't complete homework or said stepmom doesn't do her grading because a ewe is lambing.  The world will even go on, if on a 90+ degree day, it is just too darn hot to be productive and so you go to Secret Caverns to cool off (where the temperature is always 51 degrees F). 

This is just what we did earlier in the month. The weeds in the pastures would be there when we got back, and the garden vegetables would wait patiently to be harvested until evening when the temperature would drop to the low 70s.  I don't usually complain about the summer heat, as the season is so fleeting and I know the cold, dreary months of winter are just around the corner, but I will admit, it was just a little too warm for comfort.

So, we got in the car and drove out to Secret Caverns.  Scoharie County, about 1/2 hour South of Albany, is known for its caves.  In fact, the cavern employees were saying that there are about 200 to 300 caves in the county.  The largest tourist attraction there is Howe's Caverns, but we didn't visit that one due to the fact that it is the largest tourist attraction in the county.

We had tried to visit Secret Caverns twice before with Bud.  The first time, several years ago,  it was for a Masonic Lodge function in the evening and there were thunderstorms, so the cave people thought it would probably be best not to do tours. 

The second time we went was on Halloween a couple years ago.  With all the costumed folks around, Bud started descending the 123 steps to the cavern floor and by step 5 did an abrupt one-eighty and exited in a flash. I guess we couldn't blame him for that one either.

So by this third trip Bud had matured a little more, but I think it was the prospect that it was cold in the cavern that really made him think that it wouldn't be so bad.


There's not a whole lot of pomp and circumstance surrounding the entrance to the cave.  The stalactites, stalagmites and flow are still numerous inside the cave.  And there is a beautiful 100 foot water fall inside the cave at the end of the accessible part of the cave.  I particularly enjoyed the tour as the guide interjected a lot of folk history into his talk.  It didn't really matter to me if it was the "truth" or not, because it is the oral history passed down that defines the culture of the area.  I would say, however, that you don't want to be a cow living in Scoharie County, as it seems to be the cows who inadvertently "discover" all of these caves by falling down holes.  Poor things.  I see a Far Side cartoon in the making. 

At one point during the tour, the guide turned off all the lights.  We have been conditioned to think that our eyes will adjust after a bit, but in reality our eyes only "adjust" because there are some photons of light that are making their way to our eyes.  Two hundred feet below the surface there simply is no light, so we could be there for days and our eyes would never "adjust".  I don't think Bud appreciated this fact, and clenched my hand super tightly when the lights were shut off.

After the tour, we opted not to browse through the artfully tacky and unairconditioned gift shop  (more on the consumerist nature of our culture later) and instead went down to Cobleskill to get an ice cream before heading home to do the chores that were still waiting for us, as expected.