I am inside rock. The way is dark.

Within the caves at St. Beatus beside Lake Thun, Switzerland.

You can walk 1 kilometer into the mountain. Seems like not far around a track or in a neighborhood, but time and space are different here in the dark, and the Way is Dark. The tunnels are narrow. and winding the way water flows… so you never see more than 20 feet in front of you before the path bends out of sight. The path is not usually wider than the width of passing shoulder to shoulder with someone. There is room above your head, and room around your knees. I did not feel claustrophobic; though, I am familiar with the way it closes in around you.

There is a feeling of curiosity, of intimacy. I am seeing Inside a rock. I am seeing where crystals are born. I feel excitement. These are the inner workings usually invisible to us. It sounds like rushing water. Which over time has carved out 21 grottos in this 1km alone.

Let’s talk about time. A stalagmite is pointed out to be 40,000 years old. Walk on…. the ceiling above my head is 100,000,000 years old.

There is not enough space on the page to let that sink in. What occurs is, I am but a humming bird. My life as brief compared to these rocks. I am in awe. The water comes rushing again, and my heart is full of love.

I am ready to see the light again. To my surprise, I could have read about this before, I have to walk the 1km back the way I came. Now I have the unsettling feeling of walking against the arrows, and a tiny fear of getting lost down here. A gaggle of 50 teens pass me, while I waited my turn. Hades.

Now I am ready for Robert Macfarlane’s book “Underland” where he celebrates with prose how little we know about the world beneath the topsoil.