West Texas: Another Sight We Seldom See

I have family about two hours south of here. I spend a lot of time heading up and down Highway 84. South of Post, it is a really beautiful drive - at least for the first several hundred trips. Eventually, it all becomes background. I find myself driving by without noticing the beauty.

One place I do still notice is the Brazos River crossing at Justiceburg. I always glance as I drive over to see if there is a little bit of mud in the riverbed. On fantastic days, there is a little trickle of movement in the water. Over the years, I have seen actual running water three times, and one of those was last Saturday. And I wanted to share it with you. If you live somewhere that actually has naturally-occurring running water, you might not appreciate the red mud stream, but for those of us who are local, it is downright miraculous.

Brazos Running

May you see miracles in your version of the drought!

PS - The impatient white beast at the end is my Sasha, who really wanted us to take a swim. More about her here:
Sashadoption
And here:
Thoreau for your Brain, Sasha for your Smile

And here is the last MH post about the about Justiceburg and the Brazoz:
Save Lubbock's Rivers

Two More Mesquite Hugger Christmas Gift Ideas

If you follow this blog (THANK YOU!!!), you know that Instructables is an integral part of this blogger's inspiration. So, why not offer this gift of inspiration to the people around you whose brains need inspiration to keep them out of trouble. Or, just log onto the site and find a great DIY gift to make for all those special someones.

Instructables Pro Membership

Does your intended gift recipient spend too much time on the couch? Is he/she starting to take on a zombie-like pallor from too much time spent indoors? Here is a gift that may actually help this condition and improve their overall outlook on life - get them a Texas Parks and Wildlife State Parks pass. ($70) Then drag them out to one of our many sites of natural beauty. Or plan a year where you visit several parks. Many have overnight accommodations, free fishing, and equipment rental. Many are also close by! (Caprock Canyons State Park is one of the panhandle's best-kept secrets.)

Texas Parks and Wildlife Pass

May your gifts this year offer joy, inspiration, and well-being to others.

Save Lubbock's Rivers!

The Double Mountain Fork at max flow!

Don't you just love misleading headlines!

I drive through Justiceburg often, and the highlight of that trip is usually the craning of my neck to see if there's any mud lingering in the bed of the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos. There is usually a little. Once in a great while there is actual water visible. And there was one time that I saw the highway department out there monitoring to make sure that a flash flood was not going to wash away the Highway 84 bridge. (One small regret in my life is that I did not head straight home, grab the kayak, and ride the red whitewater from Tahoka to Justiceburg.) Two weeks later I passed that way again and saw only mud.

DMFBR

FYI, I love being near water, especially if that water has the capacity to support wildlife. I love ponds, lakes, streams, drainage ditches, playa lakes, buffalo wallows, mud puddles, and the ocean.  I am not terribly fond of swimming pools and it really gets to me that I live in an area where almost all bodies of water have dried up but the freshwater-for-fracking ponds are full and open for business.

The most intriguing water to me is running water. I love rivers.

So, when I ran across this article about the Freshwater Trust, I was both depressed at the enormity of their task and encouraged by the fact that they exist and are making headway. FYI, the Freshwater Trust is not based in West Texas.

The State of Water in America

May your rivers run wild and clean!