Nature Journal- The Golf Course

-

Last weekend, I decided to go home for a few days. I live in Lakeway, TX, which is just west of Austin and located right on Lake Travis. My neighborhood is pretty big and developed, but there is a large golf course right in the middle of it. I drive past this golf course every single day and I even worked there last summer. Despite seeing it every day, it never really dawned on me that this was a big nature-filled area in the middle of a large, developed area. Besides playing golf, people also often walk their dogs, go for walks, and go for runs on this golf course. It truly is beautiful, with creeks and waterfalls running all throughout the course. The trees are so large that you can hardly see the surrounding houses and streets. My parents walk the course with my dog every single day, they love it! I think that people are drawn to areas like this because people are drawn to beauty. Edward Abbey refers to nature and wilderness as a “necessity of the human spirit” and I definitely agree. I wonder about people’s definitions of beauty in nature and if that affects their everyday choices. Personally, I love lots of greenery and bodies of water. But I know other people, like Edward Abbey, find desolation and dessert areas beautiful. Some enjoy mountains while other enjoy beaches. My parents chose to live in this house because they loved the area and they loved the neighborhood. I had to wonder however, if the golf course wouldn’t have been there, would they still have been drawn to this house? Besides the obvious amenity of getting to spend time outside while golfing, I think that this little slice of nature is what really draws people to neighborhoods like mine.


The sunset on the golf course this night was beautiful!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nature Observation- The Fly

-
Nature Observation- the fly The sun was beating down making the 100 degree Texas day feel even hotter. The back patio of our house is small, yet cozy. There are three comfy wicker chairs positioned in a half circle, making it a great place to attempt to enjoy a summer day. Small flies were flying all around me, bugging me to no end. After countless attempts to swat them away, I stopped and began to let them be. The bright blue and green of their backs glinted from the sun, giving them a mirrored appearance. I could almost see myself in them, but not quite. If only they were bigger. Flies aren't the prettiest of animals, but there was something really amazing about the bright colors that only became apparent in the right light. There were probably three or four flying around me and they truly never stayed in place for more than a few seconds at at time. The transparent wings moved so fast they disappeared, similar to a hummingbird. The legs so small and delicate, they could be bro...
Read more

Nature Journal- The Land Ethic

-
I thought that Aldo Leopold took an interesting stance on land conservation and ethics. He commented on the fact that humans often take advantage of the land the we live and use but don’t realize it. He focuses a lot of his writing on land ethics, which is somewhat of a strange concept to me. It makes sense to have ethics in a decision-making or business setting, but to apply ethics to the land? That seems a bit more complicated. In typical ethical dilemmas, one party has to decide whether or not something is morally right/wrong un regards to an action that may or may not harm a second party. In this situation, we as humans are the party making the decision and the second party is the environment, which really has no say in how we treat it. We as humans are making use of what the environment is providing for us, but edge dangerously close to taking advantage of it. Leopold argues that we are definitely taking advantage of the earth and the environment. By utilizing earth’s resour...
Read more

Nature Journal- A Run on the Trinity

-
Image
I didn’t discover all the Trinity River had to offer Fort Worth until this past year. Now, every chance I get, I make use of Trinity Trails. One of my favorite things to do is drive to the Woodshed trailhead and run up the river to Clearfork and back. The river may not seem like much, it’s dark, murky, and winding. But upon closer inspection, there is so much more to it that you might miss the first time around. Down on the banks, a silent crane is standing watch, just waiting for its chance to catch a fish. In the water, a fish jumps on the surface, disrupting the once still and calm water. Turtles sun bath on the banks, attempting to keep themselves warm. You have to look quick to see them because the second you run by, they slide off the rock and into the water. Running allows me to lose myself in my thoughts and observe my surroundings without judgment. I love to run without headphones because it forces me to be conscious in what I’m doing, rather than zoning out ...
Read more