Article printed in local paper...

Beauty in our Back Yard

The great American suburb, for the most part, is void of natural beauty. The primary focus of modern development has been the accessibility of the automobile. I suppose here in Texas the truck takes precedence! No matter what you drive here in the suburbs we have vast amounts of parking lots, and ten lane highways all waiting for vehicles of all sizes to park and drive. Each time a new mega-business moves into the neighborhood and strips away every living tree and blade of grass from the land it causes me to grieve. Developers’ compensate for stripping away the nature in our lives by planting tons of puny trees. I’ll be in my late 80’s when I see these trees mature.

When a blogger friend of mine in Canada posted some phenomenal pictures of the prairie lands where he lives I was inspired to search out the beauty in our back yard. Surprisingly it did not take me long to discover the wonders of nature in Richardson. When I posted photos from my walk through the Galatyn Woodland Preserve my Canadian friend emailed to tell me how beautiful our city is.

Just feet away from the rushing traffic of Central Express and the wiz of the Dart train is a virtual paradise. Most of the beauty can be seen from the walking and running trails, but the best sights are discovered when veering off the trail. Take some time and discover the beauty in our back yard.