This month I decided to check out a new place to observe, it was suggested by one of my friends from the class. Mayfield Park is a beautiful nature preserve close to the UT campus that has nature trails that lead down to water and animals on the preserve. When I first arrived at the park I was greeted by some beautiful peacocks, who surprisingly were not afraid of me and actually were curious. The peacocks wouldn’t show their tail feathers for us but would stick around close to the table that I was at.
I really wanted to see their feathers and was hoping that if I walked near them that they would put them up but instead they decided to jump into the trees to stay away from me. After the time I spent with the peacocks I decided to check out the trails on the preserve. To my surprise the further you walked you still couldn’t hear the highway that’s near the park, it really feels like you are surrounded by nature. That is the one thing I appreciate about this preserve, since some such as Blunn Creek you can still see and hear the industrialized world around you.“All conservation of wildness is self-defeating, for to cherish we must see and fondle, and when enough have seen and fondled, there is no wilderness left to cherish” this quote by Aldo Leopold stands out to me while thinking about the nature preserves I have visited for this assignment and the class. I feel as if the conservation of nature is a great thing but it comes at a price and Leopold warns us of that. Its not always nice to think about it that way when you do find the nature on the preserves to be beautiful and wonderful which it is but it all is coming at a price we have to recognize. While walking down the trails I enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by nature and I noticed that one of the trails led down to water, which I am assuming is a branch off of Lake Austin or Lady Bird Lake.
I didn’t have the chance to get a picture of the water since I was afraid I was going to fall in, but I did get to do a wonderful ceremony for the Persian New Years, where you let a bean plant go in the water and make a wish. There is a lot more to that which is out of my knowledge but I am happy that my friend (Negeen) was happy enough to share that tradition with me! While walking out of the preserve I noticed that there was no trash on the trails or near the water which is great because the only human mark on the preserve are the trails for walking. I also noticed that there are guards near the entrance with the peacocks which is probably best because if they weren’t there I would have tried to take a peacock home with me.