Luray Caverns, VA
Lee H. Skinner
Warning: Some stalactites were harmed from the making of this
organ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjXZzB5bUAo
Lee
agkistr...@gmail.com
Luray was my very first cave. My mother took me there, perhaps in 1960? They were “playing the organ”, and many of the stalactites were already broken.
Weazel
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Mark Minton
Bill Steele
On Jun 1, 2025, at 10:24 AM, Mark Minton <mamint...@gmail.com> wrote:
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George Veni
Some older Texas cavers will remember the late Eugene Ebell, who owned Cave Without A Name. At one point in his tours of the cave he would stop at some small draperies along the trail, pull out a stick that rested inside a small hole in the wall above the draperies, and would play a tune with a great range in sounds as he knew which draperies to tap, and the different “keys” they produced along their lengths. Eugene was a musician, having played the tuba in an Army band while stationed in Cuba during World War II and later as a member of the local oompah band in Boerne. At the end of his mini cave symphonies, he would always say with his dry and wry sense of humor, “Now that there is the original rock music.”
Somewhere in the early 1990s he transitioned from tunes to simply tapping in a few places to show the different sounds that could be produced, but still always ending with his “rock music” punchline. As far as I recall, he never broke the draperies. By the time he died, Tom Summers bought the cave, and is still the current owner, and Eugene had continued living on the property. During the funeral, caver and Cave Without A Name’s cave manager Mike Burrell, realized something important was missing. He dashed from the funeral home in Boerne back to the cave, ran down the stairs, ran down the trail, then ran back up the trail and stairs and drove back to Boerne to place Eugene’s rock music stick beside him before the casket was closed.
George
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George Veni, PhD
George Veni and Associates
Carlsbad, New Mexico USA
(m) +1-210-863-5919
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agkistr...@gmail.com
The Grutas de Juxtlahuaca is a great place! I took my Mom there in the early 80s, and parked her in the plaza. She spoke no Spanish whatsoever.
I headed to the cave in a big pickup truck along with a guide and the family of a prosperous Mexican rancher. Dad wore a big cowboy hat and pointy boots, and the Missus wore a long black dress. The daughter was a stunning beauty wearing a bikini. With them was the girl’s worthless future husband, a scrawny twerp who was obviously afraid. Everyone had a Coleman lantern. The kid showed no interest in painted jaguars or crystal covered skulls, nor did he help his fiancée in any way, he just wanted to be home in a basement watching Mexican TV. El Senor was not pleased by the boy’s cowardice. Soon he had to drag his future son in law, and help mom who was having trouble in her long dress. He, himself, was about to have a heart attack. When we reached the near sump, that was it, and they were done. Our guide, another scrawny kid, spoke of the wonders beyond, but warned of deep water. The bikini clad beauty and I plunged ahead while the guide tried to help the others out of the cave. The far chambers were filled with beautiful helictites! The girl was as brave as she was beautiful, and way too good for the twerp! I’m sure this trip ended their relationship. We exited the cave at sunset. As we did I admired a fine Lyre snake climbing through the most excellent iron gate, a work of art that looked like something done by Picasso. Dad was done, so when we got to a small bridge he crashed the truck. In true Mexican style a group of campesinos emerged from the dark and physically lifted the huge truck back onto the road.
Back in town I found my Mom in the cave owner’s garden. She was drunk as a skunk and happy as a pig in you know what. She later said it was the best experience of her life!
Weazel
From: cav...@googlegroups.com <cav...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Bill Steele
Sent: Sunday, June 1, 2025 11:34 AM
To: cav...@googlegroups.com
Cc: swrc...@googlegroups.com; TexasCavers <Texas...@texascavers.com>; cav...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Luray Caverns, VA
Here’s a guide demonstrating playing cave draperies like bongos in Grutas de Juxtlahuaca, Guerrero, Mexico.
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