There is a pessimism about land which, after it has been with you a long time, becomes merely factual. Men increase; country suffers…Islands of wildlife and native flora may be saved, as they should be, but the big, sloppy, rich, teeming spraddle will go. It always has.
John Graves, Goodbye to a River
All through the fall I have listened to the sound of machinery, and seen bulldozers being shuttled around on trailers.Now with the coming of winter and the falling of the leaves I can see the changes that are being made to the land around me. Clearings and new roads all over the place. New construction, new gas wells, new fences. Fewer trees.
I thought maybe I was out of the reach of the suburban blight, but I can see it’s tentacles already reaching out to grab me. Retirees and weekend houses. A big ranch down the road is selling itself off in five-acre pieces of paradise.
I’ve even heard a rumor about a possible park. I don’t know if that would be good or bad.
Comments (5)
Thanx for the John Graves quote. I should probably go back and read that book again. I’ll just be satisfied if Roundrock is out of the reach of sprawl during my lifetime. That doesn’t seem too much to ask.
We’ve been hearing those noises too lately. I think the neighbors down the road are cutting down every tree they have…
Park = Good.
The township I am in is fighting to keep two golfcourses from becoming condolands. When I moved in, it was all farmland around. Now it’s all housing. Ten years. Thousands of homes. We are trying to figure out how to keep SOME of the greenspace.
Who’s buying these houses? Who can afford them? “From the low $400’s!
Bill,
This makes me heartsick for you.
There are just. Too. Many. People.
It’s getting more difficult to get away from it all. I have friends that live 18 miles west of Austin near Hamilton Pool. When I first met them, the drive out there was on an almost vacant country road. Now malls and condos are sprouting all around them. It’s so depressing.
I thought that in the city, I was immune to those kind of changes…resigned to giving up the rural life as I am. But tonight I’ll be at the City Council meeting arguing against the proposal for a 180 foot tall building across the street from me. And I thought the 60 foot tall building on the corner was a bit much.