My friend Buddy took this picture of me on the Sabine River in 2009. I hadn’t seen it in years, but I found it yesterday when going through files on my old computer. Here’s the story behind the photo—one of the weirder episodes from my first book, Running the River: Secrets of the Sabine.
About a mile from the boat ramp, we came upon a waterfall gurgling over a rocky ledge, into a sheltered green pool beside the river. The cavelike walls of the cove were painted green with moss. Sunlight reflected off the water and danced like currents of electricity through the shadows. I had never seen anything so pretty on the Sabine.
“We might have to go swimming later,” Buddy said, and I agreed.
Not far beyond the cove we came to a strange scene: an unmanned boat floating in the middle of the water. It sounded like the engine was running. When we came closer, we saw a long, white hose extending from the boat into the river. At one spot a few feet away, we noticed air steadily bubbling to the surface. Just then a man’s head bobbed up from the brown water, wearing a scuba mask, goggles, and a breathing apparatus.
“Looking for mussels?” I asked.
The man affirmed my question by lifting his bag of shells out of the water. But my camera and questions aroused his suspicion. “Are y’all from the FBI?”
We said no, and when we boated past, the diver sank beneath the water. We eased a little farther downriver, through frequent rapids where the flow quickened and the boat scraped over rocks and gravel, and we passed the many abandoned concrete and wooden oilfield structures that I had marveled at during my earlier trip with Jacob. I watched the shoreline for signs of hogs, but my attention soon began to wander, and I started to imagine the view of the riverbanks from two hundred years ago, when the first settlers arrived.
Today, East Texas is scrub country. What land has not been paved or plowed is choked with thorn vines and brush. But at one time, the forest canopy was so thick it blocked the sunlight from the undergrowth, and the smaller plants that did manage to survive in the dark forests were cleared by occasional fires, leaving trees so large and well established that early travelers called this place the Pine Barrens.
“They say the pine trees used to be so tall in East Texas, you could ride a horse for miles, fall asleep in the saddle, and never hit a tree limb,” I said to Buddy as we drifted downriver. “There used to be huge trees here on the river, too. Just think how much prettier all this would be if we hadn’t cut everything down.”
Buddy glanced up from the trolling motor and studied the brush on the bank. “You can’t think about it that way,” he said. “It’s still pretty. East Texas is still pretty. Just be thankful you get to see it the way it is, because someday all of this will be gone, too.” He had a point, but I hoped he was wrong. Growing up, I had never given a second thought to this wild river running through my hometown. Now that I had spent some time on the Sabine, I didn’t want to lose what remained.
Buddy and I never saw the hogs, so we turned back. The flow that had seemed so calm when we floated downstream was now a force we hadn’t reckoned with, and we spent most of the journey trudging through the water and fighting the current as we dragged the boat upstream. At times the water came only to my hips, sometimes up to my chest, but then I would step off a precipice and fall into a deeper channel. I learned to use my foot to feel for the firmness of the riverbed before committing my weight to a step forward. Before long, I forgot about my fear of being swept away by the river. As long as I stayed alert and moved slowly, I didn’t have to worry so much about drowning after all.
When we returned to the waterfall and the pretty little cove, we parked on some boulders at the entrance and jumped in. The water was cold and deep here and stunningly clear: I could see the bottom some eight feet below. Above us, the clearwater creek had worn the ground away to the eroded rock, cascading through a series of precipices, before tumbling into the cove. Buddy swam over to the waterfall and let it pound his back and shoulders. “It feels just like a back massage,” he said with glee. “You gotta try this.”
I did. It felt great. “Man, I could even bring a woman here,” I said.
This was the discovery of a lifetime, the kind of place that Buddy could enjoy with his wife and kids for years to come. We swam for a long while, then waded out of the cove and into the river. The water was much warmer here, around waist deep, brown, and muddy. Our toes sank into the silt.
When we returned to the cove a few minutes later, something had changed. “Wasn’t the waterfall a lot bigger when we first got here?” I asked. Instead of gushing over the ledge, the water had narrowed to a trickle. Then, as we watched with increasing horror, it began to grow again. Within minutes, the waterfall was surging at full strength. It was like someone had flushed an enormous toilet. Oh no, that was it! We were swimming in sewage—the discharge from the wastewater plant in Gladewater. No wonder the cove was so cool and clear. No wonder we kept smelling that faint odor of chlorine. I spit what I could out of my mouth.
We climbed out of the cove and then ascended a steep, grassy bank to see where the creek led. We came to an even bigger waterfall and then a series of smaller ones. We walked as far as we could through a leafy forest to a barbed-wire fence, then returned to the river and stood for a moment on the big gray rocks beside the beautiful cove.
“I don’t even care,” Buddy said. “It might be sewage, but they treated it first.”
We jumped back in. At one point, Buddy even swam under the waterfall, where he indulged in another back massage.
Excerpted from Running the River: Secrets of the Sabine by Wes Ferguson and Jacob Botter and published by Texas A&M University Press.
3,748 responses to “A Sheltered Cove”
Thank you for sharing indeed great looking !
Pretty component to content. I just stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to say that I get in fact loved account your weblog posts. Any way I?ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I success you get entry to consistently quickly.
Excellent article! We are linking to this great post on our site. Keep up the great writing.
very good publish, i actually love this website, carry on it
I’d like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in penning this blog. I am hoping to check out the same high-grade content by you later on as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has motivated me to get my own site now 😉
Thank you for sharing superb informations. Your web site is very cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this web site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for extra articles. You, my pal, ROCK! I found just the information I already searched everywhere and simply couldn’t come across. What a great site.
Hi my friend! I want to say that this article is awesome, nice written and include approximately all vital infos. I would like to see extra posts like this .
I have read several good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much effort you put to make such a magnificent informative website.
I’m amazed, I have to admit. Rarely do I encounter a blog that’s equally educative and engaging, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is something not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy that I came across this in my hunt for something regarding this.
Your style is unique in comparison to other people I have read stuff from. Many thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just bookmark this web site.
Hi, I do think this is an excellent website. I stumbledupon it 😉 I will revisit yet again since i have saved as a favorite it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to guide other people.
You’re so interesting! I don’t believe I have read something like that before. So wonderful to discover someone with a few genuine thoughts on this topic. Really.. thank you for starting this up. This website is something that is needed on the internet, someone with a bit of originality.
I like the valuable information you provide to your articles. I?ll bookmark your blog and take a look at once more here frequently. I am quite certain I?ll be told plenty of new stuff right right here! Best of luck for the next!
Thank you for any other informative website. The place else may I am getting that kind of information written in such a perfect means? I’ve a mission that I am simply now operating on, and I have been at the glance out for such information.
Hello my family member! I wish to say that this article is amazing, nice written and include almost all important infos. I would like to peer extra posts like this .
One more thing is that when evaluating a good online electronics shop, look for web shops that are continuously updated, retaining up-to-date with the hottest products, the most effective deals, along with helpful information on services and products. This will ensure that you are handling a shop which stays over the competition and give you things to make intelligent, well-informed electronics purchases. Thanks for the important tips I’ve learned from your blog.
I have seen many useful factors on your website about pcs. However, I’ve got the impression that notebook computers are still not nearly powerful sufficiently to be a good option if you normally do projects that require lots of power, for example video croping and editing. But for web surfing, word processing, and quite a few other prevalent computer functions they are okay, provided you can’t mind small screen size. Thank you sharing your notions.
What i do not realize is in truth how you are not really a lot more neatly-appreciated than you might be right now. You’re very intelligent. You know therefore significantly in relation to this topic, produced me in my view believe it from a lot of various angles. Its like women and men aren’t involved unless it is something to do with Girl gaga! Your own stuffs outstanding. Always care for it up!
Can I just say what a relief to uncover an individual who actually understands what they’re talking about over the internet. You definitely understand how to bring a problem to light and make it important. A lot more people must check this out and understand this side of your story. It’s surprising you aren’t more popular because you certainly possess the gift.
Hi there, I found your web site via Google while searching for a related topic, your site came up, it looks good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
I get pleasure from, lead to I found exactly what I was having a look for. You have ended my four day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
I quite like looking through an article that can make men and women think. Also, many thanks for permitting me to comment.
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright infringement? My website has a lot of exclusive content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my permission. Do you know any ways to help protect against content from being stolen? I’d truly appreciate it.
Having read this I thought it was really informative. I appreciate you taking the time and energy to put this informative article together. I once again find myself spending a lot of time both reading and posting comments. But so what, it was still worth it.
Thanks for your submission. Another item is that being photographer consists of not only trouble in catching award-winning photographs but additionally hardships in getting the best digicam suited to your needs and most especially hardships in maintaining the grade of your camera. This really is very correct and noticeable for those photography lovers that are into capturing a nature’s interesting scenes : the mountains, the particular forests, the actual wild or the seas. Going to these exciting places definitely requires a video camera that can surpass the wild’s tough landscapes.
Greetings! Very helpful advice within this article! It is the little changes that make the largest changes. Many thanks for sharing!
Güvenilir bir dan??man için medyum nasip hocay? seçin en iyi medyum hocalardan bir tanesidir.
I want to to thank you for this great read!! I definitely loved every little bit of it. I have you book marked to check out new things you post…
You made some really good points there. I checked on the internet for more information about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this website.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I’m hoping to check out the same high-grade content from you later on as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has motivated me to get my very own site now 😉
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you penning this article and also the rest of the site is also really good.
Hello there! I just wish to offer you a big thumbs up for your excellent information you have got here on this post. I will be coming back to your web site for more soon.
Hello there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any recommendations?
I think other web site proprietors should take this web site as an model, very clean and great user genial style and design, let alone the content. You’re an expert in this topic!
I think other web site proprietors should take this website as an model, very clean and wonderful user friendly style and design, let alone the content. You are an expert in this topic!
I have observed that of all forms of insurance, medical insurance is the most questionable because of the conflict between the insurance coverage company’s need to remain profitable and the client’s need to have insurance policies. Insurance companies’ income on wellbeing plans are incredibly low, consequently some firms struggle to make a profit. Thanks for the concepts you talk about through this website.
I have noticed that over the course of developing a relationship with real estate proprietors, you’ll be able to come to understand that, in each and every real estate financial transaction, a percentage is paid. Eventually, FSBO sellers never “save” the commission payment. Rather, they try to win the commission by doing a agent’s work. In doing so, they commit their money and also time to conduct, as best they’re able to, the jobs of an broker. Those duties include getting known the home by way of marketing, offering the home to buyers, constructing a sense of buyer desperation in order to prompt an offer, making arrangement for home inspections, taking on qualification investigations with the loan company, supervising maintenance tasks, and aiding the closing of the deal.
I love reading a post that will make men and women think. Also, thank you for permitting me to comment.
I have learned several important things via your post. I’d personally also like to express that there can be situation that you will make application for a loan and never need a co-signer such as a Federal government Student Aid Loan. However, if you are getting that loan through a regular creditor then you need to be ready to have a cosigner ready to assist you to. The lenders may base their very own decision over a few issues but the most important will be your credit worthiness. There are some loan providers that will as well look at your job history and make up your mind based on this but in many instances it will depend on your rating.
Thanks for the marvelous posting! I really enjoyed reading it, you’re a great author.I will make certain to bookmark your blog and will come back in the foreseeable future. I want to encourage you to definitely continue your great posts, have a nice holiday weekend!
Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I?ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access consistently fast.
Güvenilir bir dan??man için medyum nasip hocay? seçin en iyi medyum hocalardan bir tanesidir.
There’s definately a lot to find out about this subject. I like all the points you’ve made.
Hi there! I simply wish to offer you a big thumbs up for your great information you’ve got right here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.
You are so interesting! I do not suppose I’ve read anything like this before. So great to discover another person with a few unique thoughts on this topic. Seriously.. thank you for starting this up. This site is one thing that is needed on the web, someone with a bit of originality.
Güvenilir bir dan??man için medyum nasip hocay? seçin en iyi medyum hocalardan bir tanesidir.
One important thing is that when you are searching for a education loan you may find that you will need a cosigner. There are many conditions where this is true because you may find that you do not employ a past credit score so the bank will require you have someone cosign the loan for you. Great post.
May I just say what a comfort to find somebody that truly knows what they are discussing over the internet. You definitely understand how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More and more people should look at this and understand this side of your story. It’s surprising you are not more popular since you definitely have the gift.
Hey There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really well written article. I?ll be sure to bookmark it and come back to learn extra of your helpful information. Thank you for the post. I?ll certainly comeback.
Güvenilir bir dan??man için medyum haluk hocay? seçin en iyi medyum hocalardan bir tanesidir.