Don't Ask. Don't Tell.

The entrance.

This morning my phone dinged with a text message bright and early - before my eyelids had even begun to flutter open.  Grabbing my glasses, I clumsily snatched up my phone and tried to focus on the screen.  The moment I saw the picture, I knew.  Bryce, my middle son, was caving. 

 

He has been anticipating this field trip with his Outdoor Adventure class all semester.  Me, not so much.  

"Mom!  The only way into the cave is down a ladder!"

"My professor said that some of the kids in my class may not even fit through some of the tunnels we're gonna crawl through!"

"We're gonna have to rent knee pads, elbow pads and headlamps from Baylor cuz we're gonna be crawling on our hands and knees in the dark!"

One perk of having sons studying at a university that is 6 hours from home is the fact that I don't usually know about risky behaviors until after the fact - if at all.

"Me and Reed (yes.  he's about to graduate.) drove to Austin to a concert last night.  We didn't get back to our apartment until about 2:00!" works better for me than "Me and Reed are thinkin' about drivin' to the Bowl Game in San Diego.  We're gonna take turns drivin' so that we won't have to pay for a hotel."  Hmm.  Drive from Lubbock, Texas to San Diego, California without stopping.  That would definitely fall into the "Don't Tell" column.  (In case I caused your motherheart to twist and turn within your chest, take a deep breath.  Breathe in.  Breathe out.  It never happened.  They went with all of the Baylor kids in the caravan of Greyhound buses.)

Then there was this...

"I had to take Reed to the ER last night 'cause he couldn't quit throwin' up.  He's OK now."  Thank goodness that episode of Baylor Brothers ended well.  I would have made myself a nervous wreck googling "college age male can't quit throwin' up."  Also, if I had been with Reed, I would have been throwing up, too.  I have a very weak stomach that is susceptible to stomach viruses - real or imagined.

Yep.  Alan and I agree that during this season of our sons' lives, ignorance is truly bliss.  I'm thinking that grad school in Albania sounds good.  That's in a whole different time zone.

I leave you with some of the comments made on my Facebook page in response to the above picture with this post - "Just got a txt from Bryce. He's exploring Whirlpool Cave today with his outdoor adventure class at Baylor. This is the entrance to the cave. Flunk. Me. Now.."

• "Does not look fun at all to me"
• "Never in a million years!!!! Well, maybe if I was hiding from a mass murderer but that's about it!!!!"
• "My heart is racing just looking at that picture!!  No way could I do that!!"
• "No way!  I'm with you!
• "Oh my."
• We can take Art Appreciation together in the spring.
• Fail me too.
• I don't even think I could fit through the opening!

See, Bryce?  It's not just me.

This just in from the spelunker! 

"Fun time!  Pretty intense!"