sensory overload...

So...the GRE. I've reached a level of total satiation. Sensory overload. There's only so much that I can cram into my brain about reading comprehension: how to read, what kind of passage it is, what kind of message is it sending, what was the author's purpose in writing said passage, how many question can ETS (the GRE people) can twist out of the passage, etc.
I took the day off.
A good friend of mine is a park ranger at Timp Caves so I went for a visit. It was good for me. It felt good to work hard to climb the 1,000 feet to the mouth of the cave. It felt even better to get to the top knowing I was winded, but not exhausted. (I think the running has helped. Maybe I ought to add a few hills to my routine.) She hooked me up with what is called an "IC" tour. I had no idea what that meant. Apparently "IC" stands for "Introduction to Caving" What does that entail? A hard hat, leather gloves, a head lamp, boots, seeping water, and a lot of really dark 45 degree air in an enclosed space. That was a drastic contrast to my Dinosaur experience, a million degrees, giant glass building, T-Shirts, sandals, small plastic dinosaurs, and NO water. The only similarities were rocks and bats. And people. Tourists are the same everywhere you go: people looking for an escape from their real lives, they came to see you on purpose, and they are excited to see you.
I'm a geek. I love to know why rocks are important and why water is an integral part of cave formation. It never occurred to me that caves are living entities. They require air and water to continue to grow...to survive. I learned a lot and re-affirmed something about myself. I love education. I love seeing people learn things that make them happy. Classrooms scare me. I loved school: kindergarten through college. I think I have a fear of public schools because of my public school experience. I don't regret my experience at all, but I did see how many of the other students treated their teachers and their educations. I know there are lots of politics in education and I tend to steer clear of them too, but I had flashbacks to NPS politics today too. I guess this is a really round about way of stating that I do see teaching in my future.