Live to Paddle... Paddle to Live!

I took the time to see a documentary tonight called "The Unforseen" about urban sprawl and the impact on our environment. This documentary hits close to home because it is based on the urban development of Circle C Ranch here in Austin, TX. The film really made me stop and think about our environment and the day to day impact we make on the world around us.

Joy and I have talked about why we are chosing to do the Texas Water Safari and watching this film really made me analyze additional reasons why it is important for me to accomplish such a daunting task. One of the most basic reasons for me to do the race is the simple pleasure of spending time in the outdoors. When I am on the river there are no distractions, no cell phones, no computers, no one asking me questions or wanting my time. The river is a place of solitude, reflection and introspection. I have learned that we can paddle faster but it will still take a good amount of time to cover distance in the canoe. The process of paddling the boat and learning to slow down has taught me a lot about how I have been leading my life. I find that I have jumped from one thing to another without fully enjoying things in the moment. In a canoe there is no choice but to take in the world around you and cherish the moment.

Joy and I have talked about the simple things on the river that put smiles on our faces. We both wonder at the colors, reflections, shapes and movements as we quietly move our paddles through the water. I often wonder how long the river can be sustained and how much work we must all do to protect the river from polution and growth. The documentary focused on the impact to Barton Springs with the huge amount of growth and development in Austin over the last decade. In 1992 Save Our Springs Alliance won a battle in City Hall to protect the Springs and they still continue working on efforts to maintain this beautiful piece of nature within our city. A disheartening moment in the film showed a shot of Barton Springs in the late nineties when the water was extremely clear and a follow up shot showing cloudiness in 2004.



About the movie from the web site: http://theunforeseenfilm.com/blog/about/

An ambitious west Texas farm boy with grandiose plans tires of living at the mercy of nature and sets out to find a life with more control. He heads to Austin where he becomes a real estate developer and skillfully capitalizes on the growth of this 1970s boomtown. At the peak of his powers, he transforms 4,000 acres of pristine Hill Country into one of the state’s largest and fastest selling subdivisions. When the development threatens a local treasure, a fragile limestone aquifer and a naturally spring-fed swimming hole, the community fights back. In the conflict that ensues, we see in miniature a struggle that today plays out in communities across the country.

“The kind of transformative viewing experience that has made the current period a golden age for nonfiction film.”

Robert Koehler, Variety

“The best film at the 2007 Sundance Film festival, hands down…”

Gavin Smith, Film Comment

“Laura Dunn’s The Unforeseen is a rare gift. Plainspoken yet urgent, it makes the wrist-slashingly depressing topic of real-estate development somehow transcendent. The Unforeseen is the movie An Inconvenient Truth wanted to be.”

So what does this have to do with my motivation to paddle 262 miles from San Marcos to the Coast? Well rivers are some of the most isolated reminders of the purity and importance of our environment. We need to protect the rivers and remember that our livelihood depends on the flow of water. So I am living to paddle and in many ways paddling to live as I explore nature and remind myself of how far we have moved away from the simple pleasures in life.