LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Like many Americans I chose to take vacation on the Friday preceding Labor Day to eek out a 4-day weekend just before the tumult of the new school year took hold. I decided to snorkel down the most pristine section of the San Marcos River between Sewell Park and Rio Vista Falls as a kind of farewell to summer. Our glorious spring-fed river sees many visitors (>300,000/yr) that come to paddleboard, kayak, canoe, tube and swim in its clear and cool waters. As I walked to the headwaters in the pre-dawn, I was struck by the beauty of the morning sky with shades of pink and purple dancing among the clouds. Birds were twittering to each other, and I even saw several deer headed for shelter among the weedy drainage ditches along my short walk. Nature is so amazingly prolific and seeing these creatures reassures me that all is right in the world. I began gliding downstream just at sunrise and marveled at the teeming wildlife below the surface including all manner of curious bass, perch and gambusia as well as a ridiculously large alligator snapping turtle that was not pleased with my early morning incursion into its hunting grounds. Spending time in physical face to face contact with nature’s elegance leaves me with a deep sense of gratitude for life, the universe, and our creator who makes it all possible.
Ever since the industrial revolution humans have been spending less time outdoors and/or losing access to natural areas. We are fortunate in San Marcos to have a large amount of green space within the city limits (2,100 acres) for a town our size, 40 miles of trails forming a greenbelt around the city, and of course are blessed to live near the cleanest river in Texas. It makes sense that many San Martians spend more time in nature than the average American, over half of which logs less than 5 hours per week. Maybe these people live in an uncomfortable climate, traffic eats up all their free time, they don’t live in an area with easy access to nature, or they prefer digital infotainment (TV, phone, games, etc). One thing is for sure, most of human existence has been spent outside surrounded by and dependent upon the bounty of nature and doing so is central to our ability to stay humble, centered, and act as good stewards of our home here on Earth.
