Off Topic: Shoal Creek Fields

Shortly after we first adopted our dog, Mindy, back in 2008, I discovered a very special piece of land near my house. Nearly any time of day, regardless of the weather, you could reliably find people there walking, playing, flying kites, laughing, connecting - and you could also reliably find solitude, too, if that's what you needed.

Mindy and I visited frequently. We made friends there that I still spend time with today. We took lots of photos, including the ones in this post. And together we developed a love for this magical place, a place where wildflowers grew rampant, where there was enough open space to give the wind (and the dogs) room to play.

Eighty acres of undeveloped land in the middle of a city growing as fast as Austin was bound to meet its demise at some point. Over the years, I'd heard rumors that it would be developed "soon," but the rumors never grew legs - until recently. A few months ago, developers' names started to be bandied about, and there was talk of grocery stores and movie theaters and gas stations. Here. On top of this.

And this.

And this.

I'm not naive enough to think that there is anything that can be done to stop the development of my beloved land. But I'm hoping you'll consider supporting a group of people that has formed to ensure that any development that does occur here is done sustainably and preserves as much as possible the soul of this beautiful space.  If you are on Facebook, you can support this group, called the Bull Creek Road Coalition, by "liking" their Facebook page. There will probably be more ways to help later - please watch the Facebook page for updates. We need to protect as much of this...

...as we possibly can.