Saturday, August 01, 2009

Welcome to Mars



(Lake Travis, TX) - I spent the morning on a lake bed. That was not my preference, but the drought that has plagued the Texas hill country this summer has caused the normally spectacular Lake Travis to recede to a level that is aesthetically tragic.
I found myself about 40 feet below what is usually the surface of the water.
There are advantages to the water being this low. Dock builders are experiencing a boom in business. Land owners can clean off the lake bottom of litter and underbrush. To be sure, the preference would be to have a full lake, but you take things as they come.
Down there on the bottom of the lake, I found the jawbone of a deer. I thought of Samson, who the Bible tells us used a similar body part, except that of a donkey, to kill a thousand men. Not being in a murderous mood and unsure of his motivation or technique, I just left it there. For a moment, I wondered what might have happened to the deer to lead it to a watery demise.
We are fortunate to be staying with friends whose dock is still floating. Thousands of people along the shores of this lake are high and dry. You have to work to get to the dock, though. In fact, most folks were content to stay way up there on the metal stairs until its actually time to get out on the water.
We will go out there, to heck with low levels. As the old saying goes, "whatever floats your boat." The good news is, there's enough water left to do just that.

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1 comment:

Sandy said...

Wow~ very depressing. As a former Texan (always a Texan at heart), this is just disturbing!