At DeSoto Caverns

Class Exercise: write about returning to something from childhood and experiencing it as an adult.

 When I was a kid, my parents took me on a trip to DeSoto Caverns. I remember walking through the cave with them, touching one of the rocks (there are one or two you are allowed to touch), that it would get really dark (they turn off the lights to show you what pitch black looks like), and there would light show near the end. This past summer I was a teaching assistant for a summer program in Birmingham, and one of the field trips we took the children on was to DeSoto Caverns. As we're entering into the caves, I notice the kids are reacting differently some are a little nervous, others perfectly fine and having fun from the moment they walk in the door. So, I stay a little closer to the ones who are nervous and help get them interested. Finding shapes in wall and looking at the waterfall (which is created) helps to accomplish this. I'm enjoying learning the history of the cavern as well. Then we come to the end of the tour, when a video is shown followed by a light show, and either before or after that occurs is when all the lights go out (I'm a little excited, because I sometimes prefer low lighting (light sensitive eyes) and wanted to compare the experience to no light at all -- it was really strange, my eyes kept trying to see something), but the kids get nervous again, so I sit between them and let them hold my hands, so that they will know that even in the dark, I'm right beside them and there is nothing to fear. Lights come back on, everyone's calm, and all is well. Seeing something as an adult is rather different. As a child I as care-free and able to enjoy the moment; whereas, as an adult, I was able to experience the caves but I had to constantly keep watch of where everyone was. And this is being an adult: even if I had not gone with the intent of supervising children, there are responsibilities and obligations I still have that cannot be truly forgotten.