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Calm in Dark Places |
| Section: BOOK WORLD / REVIEWS |
| Author: William Burnham |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 1/1/2004 |
| Size: 1,743 Words, 10,549 Characters |
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ENTERING THE STONE
On Caves and Feeling Through the Dark
Barbara Hurd
New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2003
170 pp., $23.00
My first wild caving experience came leading a group of young campers from a West Virginia outdoor adventure school. We entered by wading against a waist-high current of cold water pouring from the wide cavern mouth. Where the stream angled away, we scrambled single file up a mud-slick rock, then duckwalked through a low corridor. The kids preceded me and their chorus of "ooohs" and "ahhhs" floated back as, one by one, they dropped into a large room decorated with flowstones, stalactites, and stalagmites. Hours later, we emerged from the cave's opposite end, embraced by a warm sun, our helmets loosened and cocked to one side, coveralls soaked and dirty. At some point, back in that cave, the kids face-painted each other with mud. Now, in full daylight, they laughed hysterically as they examined their handiwork.
Based on this experience, I've always viewed caving as one of the more legitimate and fun ways of gettin...
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...s otherwise.
For me, caving will always remain a great way to spend an afternoon getting filthy. Entering the Stone has added another dimension for me to consider as I enter the underground. Even if readers choose never to enter this fascinating world, Hurd's prose, probing questions, and translation of the cave world into meaningful meditations on beauty and loss will leave them satisfied.
(1,079 of 10,549 characters)
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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