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.
4,162 responses to “A Sheltered Cove”
As at all times, we had a scrumptious filet up on the rooftop with great service.
Nice i really enjoyed reading your blogs. Keep on posting. Thanks
Oldest archaeology excavations of glass-making sites date to around 1250 and are positioned within the Lusatian Mountains of Northern Bohemia.
Or it could be a non-monetary benefit that a company’s stakeholders give in labour and time, rather than a monetary contribution, that benefit the company.
We simply do not accept that things may have gone awry because of our own mistakes and cursing ones luck just does not help matters.
Services for Ira Lee ?Doll? Robinson Dial, 76, of Houston and formerly of Palestine, might be at eleven a.m.
Nice i really enjoyed reading your blogs. Keep on posting. Thanks
Nice i really enjoyed reading your blogs. Keep on posting. Thanks
Be6, allowing 27.Bxb5 cxb5, which would have given Ding related handed pawns on the a- and b-files; however, Nepomniachtchi opted to commerce bishops as an alternative with 27.Bxe6, which was thought of the “safer” transfer by commentators.
Thank you for sharing indeed great looking !
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful post with us.
She is the writer of Ruby Finley vs.
Turquoise gemstones are a testament to the timeless beauty and mystical allure of the pure world, offering a captivating mix of coloration, texture, and vitality that resonates with individuals all over the world.
There can also be a little bit of a weight penalty, although the tool is nicely balanced.
I was able to find good advice from your blog articles.
The information shared is of top quality which has to get appreciated at all levels. Well done…
To maneuver in a specific route, a pilot ascends and descends to the suitable degree, and rides with the wind.
In 2019 the building was declared earthquake prone, and the customer centre was moved to a portacabin throughout the road.
Greetings, I do think your site could be having web browser compatibility problems. When I take a look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in IE, it has some overlapping issues. I merely wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other than that, great website.
Strategies used to mix glass elements and work glass into final varieties embody lampworking.
Worley Funeral House in cost.
There are significant differences between the actions, powers, obligations, and liabilities of brokers and estate agents in each country, as different countries take markedly different approaches to the marketing and selling of real property.
Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your site and in accession capital to assert that I acquire in fact enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I?ll be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently rapidly.
Thank you for sharing indeed great looking !
Hello there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site? I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
Hello there! This post could not be written much better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept talking about this. I will send this information to him. Fairly certain he’s going to have a great read. I appreciate you for sharing!
A great post without any doubt.
The information shared is of top quality which has to get appreciated at all levels. Well done…
The information shared is of top quality which has to get appreciated at all levels. Well done…
The information shared is of top quality which has to get appreciated at all levels. Well done…
This is a topic which is close to my heart… Best wishes! Exactly where can I find the contact details for questions?
The information shared is of top quality which has to get appreciated at all levels. Well done…
They do properly as service canines for folks with disabilities, police dogs, and as search and rescue animals.
Great web site you’ve got here.. It’s difficult to find excellent writing like yours nowadays. I seriously appreciate people like you! Take care!!
Thanks for the tips on credit repair on this excellent web-site. Some tips i would offer as advice to people will be to give up the actual mentality that they can buy at this moment and pay later. As being a society most of us tend to do this for many issues. This includes getaways, furniture, as well as items we want. However, you should separate the wants from the needs. When you are working to improve your credit score you have to make some trade-offs. For example you are able to shop online to save cash or you can turn to second hand shops instead of expensive department stores with regard to clothing.
sex nh?t hi?p dâm tr? em ?u dâm buôn bán v? khí ma túy bán súng sextoy ch?i ?? sex b?o l?c sex h?c ???ng t?i ph?m tình d?c ch?i les ?? ??c ng??i m?u bán dâm
It is very easy for potential health risks to go unnoticed in day-to-day working life, carrying out your job role.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful post with us.
Hello there, There’s no doubt that your blog may be having browser compatibility problems. When I look at your site in Safari, it looks fine however when opening in Internet Explorer, it’s got some overlapping issues. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Apart from that, fantastic blog!
The information shared is of top quality which has to get appreciated at all levels. Well done…
A great post without any doubt.
The information shared is of top quality which has to get appreciated at all levels. Well done…
Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Thank you, However I am experiencing issues with your RSS. I don’t know why I cannot subscribe to it. Is there anybody else having identical RSS issues? Anyone that knows the solution will you kindly respond? Thanx!
The information shared is of top quality which has to get appreciated at all levels. Well done…
The information shared is of top quality which has to get appreciated at all levels. Well done…
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful post with us.
On the following page, we’ll have a look at a manner so as to add coloration and pattern at the identical time.
Excellent article! We will be linking to this particularly great content on our site. Keep up the good writing.
A great post without any doubt.
There is more risk of losing one egg, but less risk of losing all of them.