It seems a little strange to be writing a blog that encourages travel and tourism to the environs of Albany, Texas at a time when a global pandemic dictates just the opposite. Someday this will pass and normality will hopefully return.
An ongoing challenge in our region has been how to lure those from the larger metropolitan areas to visit, attend special events, or “ring the cash registers” (as the late Albany mayor Ed Tackett used to say). Often, we rely on the tried-and-true practice of spotlighting our “wild west” history as a thematic concept. The love of history is often an acquired taste—some of us have a natural interest in regional or world history while others of us, interestingly, tend to show an interest in history in later stages of our lives. (My theory is that as we age, we become nostalgic for the past that spawns our investigative tendancies…another blog subject.)
It has dawned on me though that our region of rural Texas has other “assets” that populated areas along the I-35 corridor don’t have. Many of these we take for granted since they are simply a routine part of our lives.
Our region of Texas has a “light show” at night that we often take for granted. It’s not mysterious lights that dance on the horizon, but rather spectacular stars in the heavens. On crisp clear evenings we can witness thousands of twinkling brilliant stars, planets reflecting our distant sun, and even the Milky Way stretching across the sky. As a reminder, there are fewer and fewer places around the globe where the stars can still be seen so vividly due to increasing light pollution. (So try to keep unnecessary lights extinguished at night.)
The migration path of the Monarch Butterfly is another phenomenon that we get to experience in our region. Their “Monarch Highway” allows us the brief opportunity to see and help the only known two-way migrating butterfly. Their major energy source is the milkweed that grows wild along our roadways and in our pastures. (Please refrain from cutting or spraying with herbicides.)
I could go on and on about sunsets, landscapes, wildlife, and other things that are unique to our region of Texas; so, I hope you are beginning to see my point. It also spurs questions. How do we appreciate and capitalize on our rich past as well as the present? How do we balance the desire to keep things the same while welcoming change? How do we educate visitors as well as locals regarding the importance of these gifts we take for granted?
These natural assets are free but require our stewardship. We should strive to recognize, appreciate, and conserve while also promoting these unique experiences for others to enjoy.
Patrick Kelly
(image) Eric Zimmerman, Sign (Orion), 2011, graphite on paper. OJAC Collection. 2012.003