Forgotten

On my recent trip to Marathon we stopped at Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site. The Canyon and its caves show evidence that people lived there are far back as 12,000 years ago, with rock art dating back 7,000 years. That’s a long time for a picture to hang around on the wall of a cave, but I’m glad it did, because I had the pleasure of knowing an artist, Bill Worrell, who was mightily influenced by those drawings. I have some of his work in my home as do many of my friends.

This trip to the park was mostly fact-finding. I toured the museum exhibit (pictured above), looked out into the canyons, and took home a map. My next trip, I hope, will include a hike to see some of the sights deeper into the park. I’m not sure my old legs would stand a hike to the river to see the caves and the actual art, but you never know. So, I’ll just keep training and see what nature brings.

I enjoy time trips like Seminole Canyon because it’s a nice reminder that we’d be lucky if a picture we drew today would still be around for folks to look at in 7,000 years or 12,000. It will probably be the same with the wall they’re building today. Time will pass, floods and storms will come, and mores will change. If anything is left, most likely it will be a tourist attraction like Hadrian’s Wall or the Great Wall of China, or even more likely, buried like most of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, forgotten.