DAY 5ish

Ruby Falls, gushing down from a towering height, declaring her presence beyond the dream-like memory I had of her from 36 or 37 years ago. My mother says that our family trip to Chattanooga happened when I was about 3 or 4, (about the age of my youngest now) While I didn't have many memories of that trip, walking through the caves and seeing Ruby Falls are images that were vividly burned in my mind. I remembered the colored lights, the railing surrounding the falls. The room around it seemed bigger then, but the waterfall itself, I remember being more like a trickle. I'm guessing it was a summer trip. But there was something about it that spoke to me, as a young girl. Spoke to a timeless observer in me that I wasn't even aware of yet.

This is why, today, carrying my 3 year old daughter into that place was something of a sacred act. I tolerated her incessant requests to be held largely because I was feeling a special connection to her and my little girl self at the same time. And in spite of my aching arms, I loved having her in my arms and watching her see this place for the first time. There was a moment or two when she smoothed the hair away from my face the way I do for her.

Throughout the tour, which was mostly an annoying wait in an elaborate line to keep people engaged or distracted enough to not realize they are actually waiting in line, I couldn't shake my eagerness to see it again. My mother-in-law had seen it once before as well, more than 55 years ago, when she was a young girl. My husband and father-in-law had never been. Looking at this picture now, I am so grateful for today's experience.

Ruby Falls was a force to be reckoned with today, in the middle of a warm and wet winter here. Her crashing locks filled the room with sound and mist and her presence unapologetically claimed the spotlight. And all of her strength and beauty dissolved into a small pool no deeper than the average height of a woman.

What if we women were to realize that we all have a hidden waterfall of power and strength and beauty within us? What if we could connect with that and share it with our daughters and our mothers?

Ruby Falls was named for a woman. Women Rock. ;-)

goodnight. ~k