The trip to Florissant does not start at the fossil beds but
rather in the city, or more specifically on the drive up. I leave the city, and
the commotion that it brings, for a long drive into solitude. There are miles after miles of empty land
with the occasional house, ranch, or barn. When you arrive you find a few
buildings surrounded by wilderness.
The land truly transforms as you start to explore the
landscape. Once you walk around you are not in the mountains but instead in a
valley far away. Fossils illustrate a time gone by where trees stood taller
than office buildings. The grain in the wood is as it was millions of years
ago. The wind passes in a warm breeze transforming the landscape into a warm
valley from times long past. You can see the prehistoric creatures moving about
in a forest filled with bugs, flowing water, and green flora. These things
which seem to be almost the complete opposite of today. We also find a tree
growing from a fossil and birds that land on the petrified trees, our modern nature
still interacting with the nature of the past.
There is a final transition, one that brings any visitor
back to reality. The fossils are truly great and offer not only an experience
to the senses and mind but they also provide a stark reminder. They are either
railed off or placed in a glass case. In order to keep our history available to
ourselves and future generations we must keep a barrier between us and the
fossils.
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