One of my finest moments...

I need to set the stage a bit for this one...(you'll have to bear with the seeming random-ness of the story; just trust me that it all comes together in the end! And...I'm going to enjoy making this longer than it really needs to be, so read on!)

The first year I came on the dig (2 years ago), the team found 3 cisterns in the church (in addition to the one that had already been found). I volunteered to explore these underground water storage "facilities" but Dr. Schuler did not like the idea of just sending a student into the ground without knowing what they might find (I'll admit he was very justified in this concern). He said to me, "What would your dad say if he found out I let you go down a cistern in Israel?" To which I replied, "My dad bought me a motorcycle and paid for me to go skydiving for my 18th birthday, I think he would be disappointed if I didn't go!" (This is one of my dad's favorite stories from the first year).

I did get to end up going down the cistern. In fact, I went down with Dr. Schuler to map out the floor and the walls in order to draw the inside!

Random fact: While I was drawing walls in another room - the diakonikon - I might have thrown my pencil into the cistern (the one where gold was found nearby).

Year Two: Dr. Schuler told me that he would be excavating one of the cisterns - the same one I threw my pencil in - and that I would be part of the team that got to go down! Hoorah! he also suggested that we bring along headlamps to wear on our hardhats (makes sense, yeah?)

At school, I slept on the bottom bunk and had made a sort of "tent" for myself by draping a blanket under the top bunk mattress and letting it hang down. It was very cozy, but also very dark. So when I read at night, I had to use a small flashlight and I always complained to my lovely roommate that I needed to just get a head lamp so I could read without having to hold the light. Well, wonderful girl that she is, Stephanie bought me a present...a dinosaur headlamp that roars when it is turned on. Excellent.

Dr. Schuler said I needed a headlamp...I knew exactly what I was going to do.

I waited until it was time to go in the cistern. Dr. Schuler went down first, and while he was down there, I peeked over the edge and said, "I'm ready to come in, look!" When he looked up, I turned on the light - it roared three times - and Dr. Schuler stared, rolled his eyes, and lowered his head and started shaking it from side to side (I'm convinced there was a smile on his face and he was laughing). It was everything I had hoped for.

Since then, I have tried to convince Dr. Schuler to wear the light, to which he refuses. He went down the cistern once and said he had to go get his light first. I told him, "You can use mine, it works really well!" He said, "I don't care how well that thing works, I am NOT wearing it!"

Well...thanks to a little bit of photo editing and the assistance of Cameron Heiliger, who created this picture for me...now we all know "what might have been..."

(Dr. Schuler - I just think you should know that it wasn't even my idea to post this...)

P.S. I found my pencil last year - still sharp!