San Solomon Springs - Balmorhea State Park

From the Texas State Park website: 

"Dive into the cool waters of the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool, which covers 1.75 acres and stays at 72–76 degrees year round. Scuba divers love the clarity even at a 25-foot depth....Fed by San Solomon Springs, 22 – 28 million gallons of water flow through it each day. At 25 feet deep, and with a capacity of more than 3.5 million gallons, the pool has plenty of room for swimmers and offers a unique setting for scuba and skin diving."

Texas was the first place I lived where touching water was not an option. I was convinced that water moccasins lived in every bayou and was horrified at the thought of immersing myself in the opaque brown liquid of the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston. Brown water is not enticing, nor is it refreshing or a sought after location to spend time near. Growing up, brown water meant flooding - the swiftly moving excess that required sand bags and the hope of containment.

When I was in Marfa last month, I realized that Balmorhea (with the exception of San Marcos and Barton Springs) was one of the few clear and enticing bodies of water I had visited in Texas. As simple as it seems, it is not merely about the water, but the context of the place around it. Balmorhea is not like its surroundings - the muddy Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park or the Pecos River curling through the sagebrush covered hills.

In 2009, I dove off one of the white "pillars" into the cool water and swam to the other side. There were fish all around me and scuba divers underneath. The temperature of the water fluctuated with the depth and it was clear for 25'. This was the first place where I swam outdoors in Texas that felt like "home" and it was one of the most refreshing experiences with water I have ever had. In 2013, I repeated that action with far less people and cooler weather.

Its proximity to absolutely nothing amplifies the desert oasis description. Balmorhea is a difficult place to visit and its remoteness makes it more special.

Thunderbird Hotel Swimming Pool

Stats:
• Shallow End = 4'
• Deep End = 9'
• a black line divides the center at the 6' mark
• the edges are scalloped and on the shallow side, two sets of curved stairs with three steps each descend into the pool
• there is a ledge on the deep side - a perfect place to stand in knee deep water and pseudo dive or sit while debating whether or not to jump back in or get out

 

The sides of the pool and the bottom have brown striations similar to the marks found on a Richard Serra sculpture made of Cor-ten steel. There were water skippers on the shallow end and red dragonflies hovering but not dipping into the water. Reflections of the ocotillo branch fence and white and orange faded lawn chairs appeared depending on the presence of the sun and the position of the clouds.

Pink haunts this pool. Here a deflated raft drifts into the composition.  Everything is greener than I remember, the color constantly changing in direct and diffused light. I kept trying to name the hue and sea green was the closest I came.

I am learning how to use a zoom mic and recorded the sounds - magnificent glugs with roofers stapling tile in the background. I missed the bells from the Catholic church. At this stage, I am collecting without intentions of using the files but who knows what will happen in the future?

I made a list of thirteen bodies of water that have influenced who I am (twelve of which I've visited and one that I dream of seeing eventually). The Thunderbird Hotel swimming pool is meaningful from an artistic end. I made a photograph of a floating doughnut that turned into a series of fake cakes that transformed my process. Not only is it an emerald jewel in the West Texas desert, but a location of great artistic inspiration.