Florissant Essay

Chris Shelley

UCCS

HUM  3990

Essay

As I sit here in this preserved slice of history in the Florissant fossil beds, I am over whelmed with the sights of these beautifully petrified ancient life forms that have endured the test of time. They bring us back to when life was not so hurried, or loud, or obnoxious. I sit here listening to the sounds of the wind blowing through the trees while birds sing on their branches, the sound of a cricket using his leg as a bow, serenading the valley with his song. The many wonderful smells of the pine forest engulfing and overwhelming my senses, trying to bring me back to that once forgotten time so many million years ago.

            The secrets of this land were locked away in her vaults of sediment, so I sit here and close my eyes, imagining  as if in a theatre, the picture show she awaits for me to recreate in my mind.  As the wind blows through the great red wood trees I can imagine an ancient cuckoo singing a song, an assassin bug skimming across the water while being silently pursued by an ancient perch. I can see beautiful butterflies being lifted into the air buy a gentle breeze across the tops of the local flora. The sight and sound of wasps dancing around the tree tops ready to defend their queen.

            As I sit here I am thankful that there are still parks such as this that I can still visit, sit in peace and quiet, and reflect on the past. Leaving the stresses of life at home and filling my mind with peaceful images of an ancient one.