I didn’t mention this before, but yesterday we saw a truckload of pigs on the freeway. Many of them were standing, snouts through the slats in the big rig, gazing hopelessly and anxiously, seemingly resigned, into the great beyond – for that one last look at the world. My eyes met a few of theirs, and I got the distinct impression that they knew their future. Now there is no more bacon for me! The drive today was through beautiful southern Kentucky to Mammoth Cave, which is currently the largest cave in the world at 365 known miles. Of course we went on an underground tour. Mammoth Cave is very different from Jewel and Wind Caves – they are all limestone, but Mammoth is a lot wetter inside, harbors all kinds of life, and has incredible stalactites and stalagmites. We spent about 2 hours 250 feet below ground, winding through the passages carved by groundwater – the Frozen Niagra formation was incredible. The cave system is home to 130 forms of life including some blind fish, cave crickets, pack rats, and bats. You have not seen crickets until you have seen these cave crickets. Well, toward the end of the tour, the ranger casually shone her flashlight on the ceiling, only inches above our heads, and there were all these cave crickets clinging to the ceiling – these things were at least two inches long, with enormous daddy long leg type legs and antennaes the length of the Mississippi! We also saw a very cute bat, nestled in a crack. Prior to entering the cave, and upon leaving, we had to disinfect our shoes to prevent transmission of the fungus that caused “white nose syndrome” in bats. Outside we heard the hum of cicadas, insects I had long forgotten, about and saw the homes of the tent caterpillars. As we were leaving, we had a run in with an insect that seemed to be a cross between an angry carpenter bee and a huge biting fly – it flew into our open window and could not find a way out until we pulled over, jumped out, and opened all the doors. No more open windows for us!
