into the bowels of the earth

Allow me to dwell a moment on my scouting days. My old Troop 54 comrade posted a comment amount our trips to Tennessee. I remember those trips well and especially disappearing into the mountain's belly of Cumberland Caverns. We'd disappear single file into the dark passages and crawl through and often wiggle through tight narrow spaces - hoping beyond hope that the scout in front of us wouldn't fart from the beans served during the lunch before. To me - it was a serious concern.

We would not only tour for hours on in the thick darkness, but we would sleep there as well. The tour guide made sure that we knew that the rats that dwelled in the caves were rats of a very different breed. These vicious creatures were said to have been as large as small dogs. We were firmly instructed to keep our flashlight within feel-able reach and to sleep in and not on our sleeping bags. These cave rats were known to have an appetite for fingers and especially toes. Needless to say, that when all was quiet - we boy scouts strictly adhered to our motto "Be Prepared", and kept all appendages, all of our mortal being well hidden inside our bags. Better safe than sorry - fold the sleeping bag over and try to leave little to no entrance for the large hungry toe-eating cave rodents. What did Mr. Smitherman get us into anyway?

James Harp, Jim McCullars and Mark Condra were always my close scout pals back then. Thanks Jim for stopping by for a memory.