I was less than eight years old, traveling with family through the Shenandoah Valley. I remember stepping underground and feeling like I had entered another world.
The caverns were vast, with impossibly high ceilings. All around, there were strange rock formations, with stalactites hanging from above and stalagmites rising from below. Although I couldn't pronounce those terms well, I was completely captivated by them. They looked like giant stone icicles growing slowly.
What stuck with me the most was a formation that looked just like a cracked egg. There was a white part spread out, resembling egg white, with a yellow center resembling a yolk. I do remember the eggs, and it was amazing! How nature could create something so familiar in such an unexpected place.
My memory of the egg was a much brighter yellow yolk. But I did not find any photos that were exactly what I thought I saw. Maybe a few decades have dulled the memory of the color of the yolk.
As children, we notice things that adults often overlook. That little “egg” in the cavern has stayed with me for years, while many other memories have faded. It reminds me that the most memorable experiences often come from our childhood, when the world is full of wonders. I hadn't thought about that egg until this month's contest.
For me, those caverns will always be the place where I first saw a rock that looked like a cracked egg and wondered, “How did that get there?”
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