Tunnels

Tunnels are a fascination of mine..... the tree tunnels on Edisto Island- those Spanish Moss hung oaks of old. Then there is the Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel above Walhalla, South Carolina where the mountain was blasted and the train was to run through.... it was never completed so Clemson University stored it's cheese there for a while and now it is a place to double-dare each other to see who can walk into the tunnel the furthest to the deep pocket where you cannot see your hand in front of your face and the coolness of the air feels like ghosts' whispers. There is also the soothing rhododendron tunnels of the Appalachian mountains... these are the tunnels I like to trail run down pretending I'm some undiscovered southern exotic monkey swinging from branch to branch with a wild gracefulness.

This summer I experienced a new sort of tunnel that spoke to be in a different way. Riding my black Schwinn Criss-Cross complete with a front removable metal basket, headlight, rear light, sturdy kickstand, and cute dingy bell, I went on a biking adventure date through the city streets of our town. This tour did not go through the dynamite blasted tunnels on I-40 where one blows their horn when they are feeling especially feisty or when one's kid begs a little too long, but it DID include a ride over a street on an elevated sidewalk.... aka: bridge. The bridge was just a mere concrete walking path with a tunnel-like chained linked fence over it that was kudzu crawled and rusty from one too many Southern summer rains.

As I rode through the tunnel I became momentarily startled by a bird... a common sparrow, I think. It was trapped inside the fence. It flew frantically from side to side then quickly turned and headed to the opening to the end of the tunnel where it quickly gained elevation and flew off into the horizon. I was immediately stunned by the occurrence as I myself was traveling through the tunnel... to the open end. It was at this moment though that I realized the tunnel was not a closed tunnel... it was a chained linked fence tunnel. Light was filtering through those somewhat diamond shaped openings allowing the warm late afternoon light filter in. I also realized that that common sparrow could have chosen any of those holes to escape through... it could have made itself fit, but it chose to experience the entirety of the tunnel and in the end it got to experience the grandeur of entering into the open air... the light... the freedom. My hope is that the bird did not feel at all trapped by the enclosure along the way and that it was able to see the light that illuminated its sidewalk path as it journeyed through.