Dis-Covery, Pt. 2
Well, I didn't actually see much down there. A few cobwebs, a small trickle of water from a nearby storm drain, and an odor I'd describe as "novel."
In fact, as I neared the bottom of the shaft, it slowly dawned on me that the adjoining tunnel was not large enough for a person at all -- just an 8- or 10-inch PVC pipe embedded in the concrete. I shined my flashlight inside, ran my fingers over the edge to make sure, and let out a moan of disappointment that echoed in the chamber as a cold Venusian wind blew through.
I'd love to tell you that the floor of the tunnel then gave way, dropping me down to a second tier of passageways, but it didn't. That's actually in Turkey.
Which is why I kind of wanted to leave the last post as it is, and not continue it. The expedition didn't turn up much, but I consider it a success... sort of. And I suppose that if I had known all along what was down there -- or not down there, in this case -- well, I probably would have just mowed the lawn or cleaned out the garage that afternoon and gone on with my life.
The beauty lay in not knowing. So I'm sorry to have gotten your hopes up, Jake, and just know that I was right there with you.
And I'll try to remember it from now on when I wake up in the morning -- that whatever awaits me today, even if it's crappy, especially if it's crappy, I'm glad I don't know yet.
I still get to find out.
6 comments:
Bummer!!! The photos there look like the town of Fraggle Rock...:)
What a let down... :)
I say you write a version of what you wanted to see down there! Practice a little fiction writing!
-jake
The whole thing gave me the willies. I'm just glad it's over. Plus I've seen too many episodes of "Dirty Jobs" to ever trust a hole in the ground.
o man. I really wish you HAD found Turkey tunnels under your man hole cover 'cuz p-lope woulda been sooooooooo put out that she didn't join you!!!
love your adventuring soul... even if the only discovery at the end is a novel new odor!
xoxoxo wee
Those pictures made me freak for a second!
You have a real knack for story telling my man. Looking forward to reading about the next adventure.
Man, this was one of the few blog entries on the net that I qualify as a true cliffhanger, and when I saw those tunnels my immediate reaction was "No way, someone actually hit the tunnel jackpot!" but then the rational side of me thought "Aw crap he probably just posted from tunnels from Turkey."
Oh well.
When I was about 12, a group of my friends and I went on an adventure through miles of tunnels connecting a creek throughout my neighborhood. Some were dark tubes, most were 4 ft tall concrete riverbeds. We always thought the side tunnels lead to endless adventure, but usually it was just a spraypainted middle finger. It was like fate was flipping us off.
I always remembered that.
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