Water Hole to Water Hole

Balmorhea State Park, Texas

I have read enough cowboy books to know South West Texas is a no-man's land.  So, it was my thinking yesterday as we continued to push further west.  The abundant green of the Frio River oasis I had awoken to faded quickly as the sky and land turned bare and pale. This morning I feel the old cowboy saying, “Road hard and put up wet.”  This is more the RV mattress than our 6-hour drive deep into the desert.  We are moving like pioneers from one water hole to the next.  Today is the Balmorhea Springs pool fed by the Davis mountains stretching along our southern horizon.   The pool was built by the young men (back when men were men) of the CCC Civilian Conservation Corps.  It is a crystal clear gift of American antiquity.  It remains mostly as it was built in the 1930s as President Roosevelt tried to keep our depression ear country alive by putting young, jobless men to work building parks all over the country.  This is a gem of that program.  A large circular pool with two long arms, one for shallow ease and one, 30 feet deep, for diving.  A covered promenade on one side and a shaded park on the other.  It was just a cure for my belabored mind and body.  The spring-fed pool remains 72° year-round and in the heat of the desert afternoon was a welcome balm for my lover and me.  We had it mainly to ourselves.  Mornings breaking here.  May take a cowboy nap.  Happy trails.