One With Nature

A long time ago... well... about a hundred years ago, the area in which I reside now was called Smithfield. Before that, they called it Zion. Although this small city was annexed by North Richland Hills in 1958, my grandmother still calls this area Smithfield, as do any of the residents who lived here before 1958 and a little beyond. My children will always be able to claim they went to Smithfield Elementary school which is rich in history of this area. When someone asks me what part of North Richland Hills do I live in, I always say, the Smithfield area.

As a young child, my family would get in the car and travel to "the country" to see my grandmother. When I was 17 years old, we moved to "the country" which is about a quarter mile from where I am now.

In 20 years time, "the country" has been replaced by houses, apartments, WalMarts and Walgreens and every time I see a patch of land out here that is in the process of being modernized, it makes me sad. Little by little, the trees are being bulldozed, the ground dug up and replaced by concrete and nature is being extinguished. I always have to ask myself, when will it ever be enough? When will they stop? And the answer is simple... they will stop when there is nothing left to bulldoze.

I have quite a variety of wildlife still roaming around my house, despite the destruction of men. What prompted this blog was me seeing a raccoon under my window. Since I've been here, I've also seen skunks, possums, coyotes and I have a rabbit or two that hangs around. Seeing these things always makes me smile. Yes, even the skunks.

I've been pondering since my move here in June of 2006 on how long I will be staying. My love of nature and all of its inhabitants is a very big part of who I am. Seeing what this city is doing to itself saddens me in a way where I don't want to live in this area the rest of my life. I need trees and wildlife and waterways built by storms and time, not men. I crave these things very much. A good friend asked me not too long ago where I would like to see myself and it was a very simple answer. The small modest home I would live in is set atop a hillside and would have views of pastures and forests. Kind of like what it once looked like about a hundred years ago where my house now sits.

This is an arial view of what Grapevine Hwy and Davis Blvd USE to look like:

This is what it looked like in 1998. I wish I had a view of it now, because now there's a big highway that comes down in the middle of all of this:


I found this picture which is pretty cool. This is what Davis Blvd. use to look like. This farm is still there. For those that know the area, Sonic Drive-In is now located across the street from here. When I moved to NRH in 1984, Davis Blvd was still this two lane road. Now it's 5.

This area is about halfway between where we moved to when I was 17 and where I live now. Kind of gives you an idea of how spacious this area use to be.

And to think... all of this history stuff because I saw a raccoon earlier...