Wonder Cave

After lunch in Manchester with a friend, I drove home the long way, only because I had the time and needed the space.

Following, at a distance, the line of the plateau, I drove through farms and what-used-to-be communities like Valley Home, where the abandoned school sits still along the old Highway. Nearby is Wonder Cave, now locked tight, too, its wonders hidden behind an intimidating metal gate with large locks.
I remember going to Wonder Cave, once, with my family when I was a little girl. I remember only a few things: the darkness when the light went off, the damp cool, the strange formations. I went to other commercial caves as well -- Dixie Caverns in Virginia and Ruby Falls in Chattanooga. But somehow it's Wonder Cave I think about, maybe because of the name, maybe because I see the sign in passing, maybe because I only think I remember it, maybe because it points to hidden treasures always just out of sight.

A website called Images from Nostalgiaville: Tennessee -- Grundy County says this about Wonder Cave:

Pelham TN 37366
Located in Pelham Valley at foot of Monteagle Mountain on Hwy 41
Discovered by three Vanderbilt University students in 1897
R M Payne purchased property in early 1900’s
Helped pass a law making it illegal to deface cave formations, 1909
Early visitors entered cave in flat bottom boats
A large entrance hole was blasted in rock face in early 1900’s
Boat trips were abandoned, 1917
River that runs through cave called Mystic, because its source has not been
identified
River is blocked by an ancient rock fall nine miles into the cave
Only one mile of the cave’s 15 mile length is open to the public
Over two million visitors have seen cave since 1897
Temperature in cave is a constant 56 degrees F
Know for its onyx formations
Listed as a Tennessee Backroads Heritage site

Now my niece is married to man (is he my nephew-in-law?) who is a dedicated and daring spelunker, the kind who "opens" new caves by exploring what has hitherto been unknown. He repels into darkness without knowing what's there. His daring is a kind of courage, I suppose, that can serve as a metaphor for daily living.

Me, I'd rather see wonders whose safety I don't question. I'm just sorry that this cave's wonders are now permanently off-limits.