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| John Graves' Goodbye to a River |
I sat down this morning to begin reading John Graves' "Goodbye to a River", an annual tradition with me as I prepare for our Mother's Day Brazos River Trip. Graves' account of a his final canoe trip down a section of the Brazos River before a series of dams were to be built, changing it forever. Before I became too lost in his words, I was inspired to have a photo contest. I've been wanting to have a contest since Having Fun in the Texas Sun reached 1000 likes on facebook. (Hooray, and thanks to all of you!) The contest will be Texas Rivers, and the photos should all carry a similar theme. The prize is a new copy of Goodbye to a River, which I will have sent to you from Amazon. While it's not an expensive cash prize, the words inside his book are a treasure. My hope is that many of you will participate, either by submitting photos, or by voting for your favorites, and that even those who don't win will take the time to read the book. Our Texas rivers are disappearing under reservoirs, and being littered and polluted.
“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom
rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath
you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.” ~ Winnie the Pooh
Here's how to paddle;
Submit your Texas River photo(s) until May 20, 2012. This date is to coincide with National River Clean Up Day on Saturday, May 19th, and give you time to email your photo to me
havingfuninthetexassun@gmail.com .
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| Trinity River |
The photos will be added to this blog page, and on Monday, May 21, they will be posted to facebook for the contest to begin! At that time, you, your friends, neighbors, relatives and postal carrier can all begin voting (liking) your photo. The voting will continue until Tuesday, May 29th at 11:59pm. At that time, I will tally all the votes and the winner will be announced (unless I fall asleep sitting at the computer waiting for 11:59pm, haha! - just kidding!)
Tips:
- Don't spend time mulling over your favorite photo to submit, you can submit as many as you like!
- Once the contest is started, share it with your friends on facebook, BUT explain that they must like the photo on my facebook page, if they like it on YOUR facebook page, it doesn't count!
- I will post your comments about the photo along with the photo, so tell me where it was taken, who is in the photo, and maybe a great recollection about that day!
- Anyone can enter! Professional photographers, children, the family pet if you can get them to hold the camera, it's ALL GOOD!
- I will include every photo, as long as it is FAMILY FRIENDLY! It doesn't have to be an entire river, any portion is okay! So find your favorite memories of tubing, rope swings, fishing, your young child playing in the water. The river doesn't have to be the star of the photo.
- Finally, and this is out there, but if you are a business in Texas, and want to contribute to our contest, and help raise awareness of Texas Rivers, you can email me and donate a prize for the contest; t-shirts, gift certificates for your business, passes to your attraction, etc. I can promise that I will SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE YOUR NAME AND BUSINESS INFORMATION, DURING THE CONTEST AND WELL, WELL BEYOND! If HFinTS has promoted your business in the past, it's also a great way to say "Thank You"!
I welcome your questions and comments! Until I hear from you, I'm off to read my book!
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Catherine Schuelke
"....the Frio River rippling over the rocks in Garner State Park." |
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Catherine Schuelke
"...the pristine Frio River- some winter leaves floating in the shallow water - water so clear it is almost invisible. If you know where to look, there is a minnow near the middle of the picture.". |
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Catherine Schuelke
"I love the silliness of this picture. The river calls, whether you have on a swimsuit or not. Even though we were only conducting a preliminary exploration of the grounds at Pedernales State Park, the kids HAD to get their feet wet. Of course, they weren't satisfied to take just one step. . . and I caught them all with their shorts hiked up!"
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Catherine Schuelke
"This picture doesn't quite tell the whole story....but if you haven't experienced the dam and lock on the San Antonio River (on the north end of the river walk), you really should. It was a fabulous field trip for us last year after study boats and watching a video on the Panama Canal. If I remember right, it is gravity fed, making it a low energy operation. For us, it was worth the price of the all-day river taxi pass. (Then you can go through the lock as many times as you want too!)" |
