So when you say you believe that geological column represents hundreds of millions of years. and that species have come and gone, I do not think that is the same level of "belief" that you might applu when jumping up in the belief that you will return to ground.
It is somewhat more abstract than the reality that we live our lives in. After all, I do recall the reality of being at a freep in Philly and standing next to you when you were yelling at the Secret Service on the roofs at LaSalle. We all scooted a bit to the left or right when you were doing that.
But I look at the geological column as a reality in its own right. You're from Pennsylvania - you have seen the folding as you drive through the road cuts. Those formations were eroded from other formations, and then thrust up and eroded into the ridges that we see today.
The Biblical notion of a flood simply doesn't explain that, IMO.