“Our ability to perceive quality in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language.”
– Aldo Leopold
When I returned to Blunn Creek the first time in October, I decided to enter the park at the Longbow Lane Entrance. It was 5PM and the sun was about to go down. The weather cooled down in comparison to September. After about a minute I saw the first sign of life, a rabbit came running out of the bushes onto the path I walking on. I managed to take two pictures of it. As you can see below, the rabbit blends in perfectly with its surroundings. It’s grey and brown color make a great camouflage. The rabbit didn’t run away at the sight of me, it just sat down looking at me, waiting for me to take some kind of action. I quietly approached the rabbit; it is noticeable that both rabbits and squirrels do not move when people get closer, it’s the sound that makes them run away. I heard someone approaching in the distance, and the rabbit took off.
I walked further; ready to explore the nature of Blunn Creek. It was very quiet in the park, it seemed there weren’t as many birds as in the beginning of September. However, I came in contact with a lot more people. A woman was meditating on a rock at a place where the view was great. I didn’t found this exact place when I visited before. I decided to sit down for a couple of minutes, and observe the nature surrounding me. The trees were still very green, although I could see that there were more leaves on the ground, and the trees soon have to embrace the cold weather that is coming. Half of the trees were still enjoying the warmth of the sun, whereas the other half was already covered in shadow.
The little creeks looked like they have got more water than before, probably due to the rain we have had lately. Personally I think places like Blunn Creek look a lot more beautiful when the water level is higher, it makes the nature look more alive. The air was very crisp and pure; it felt good to back at Blunn Creek again. Through the whole park there was one particular flower that could be found everywhere. It had a pretty purple color that made the nature look more inviting.
Blunn Creek is filled with trees that are cut down. This might sound like a bad thing, but it is actually good for the nature park. There a lot of non native trees found on the preserve. One of these trees is called the ligustrum. Last year I volunteered at the Austin Parks Foundation, helping them cutting down ligustrums, which not only displays more important native shrubs and trees, they also shade out grasses and wildflowers which leads to increased erosion. It definitely looks like they are making a lot of progress every other weekend.
Coming back to Blunn Creek was once again a great experience. It reminds me how beautiful nature can be, and that although humanity is destroying a lot of it, we also still have people that put their precious time in keeping nature pretty, and that demands respect.
