“Misunderstanding is my cornerstone. It’s everyone’s, come to think of it. Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet.” – Barbara Kingsolver
What I Didn’t See
Looking across the deceptive shallow waters. — Photo by Pat Bean
There was only one thing left to do in Santa Rosa after my canine traveling companion, Pepper, and I left the Route 66 Auto Museum. Pay a visit to the Blue Hole.
Roadside signs advertising it had been tantalizing me for miles.
I found the attraction just a few blocks off Santa Rosa’s main Route 66 drag. I wasn’t impressed, seeing not at all what the hullabaloo was about. The Blue Hole looked like nothing more than a small, natural swimming hole that had been fancied up a bit.
Even the fancy diving pier didn’t clue me in. — Pat Bean
Pepper and I saw nary a soul as we walked all the way around it, which took about 10 minutes, before getting back on the road and heading to Albuquerque.
It was only later, when I did my usual curious-to-learn-more internet search, that I discovered why I should have paid the Blue Hole more attention. It was sort of like meeting a mild-mannered reporter named Clark never knowing that a Superman lay beneath.
What Pepper and I didn’t see was the 80-foot wide, 240-foot deep artesian well below the surface, its waters so crystal clear that scuba divers come for all over to dive in it.
There’s also a grate down there, blocking the hazardous entrance to some underwater caves that back in 1976 took the lives of two divers
There’s a lesson here. A familiar one. Never judge a book by its cover – or a pond by only what you can see.
Bean’s Pat: Pretty in Purple http://tinyurl.com/bqrz9vc If you’ve never seen a purple gallinule, then here’s your opportunity. And if you’ve seen one, I’m sure you’ll want another look.
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Pat, my daughter Robin and her husband Jeff dive here several times a year. I’m told it’s a challenging dive, because of the depth. But you’re right: on the surface, it doesn’t look like much, does it? Guess you have to look a little deeper into this one to understand its mysteries. Glad that you and Pepper could visit!
I’ll have to tell my youngest daughter, the one who didn’t attend the conference with me, about it. She got into scuba diving when she lived in Guam. Me. I can jump out of an airplane but can’t scuba dive. I’ve tried, but i get claustrophobia. Thanks for commenting Susan.
The hole/pond seems like a mirror
to life
(in some respects)
still waters
and
calm ponds
sometimes run deep…
Nancilynn