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Greenbeat Magazine looks at the stories in Barton Springs Interactive

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Joe Nick Patowski is a writer for Texas Monthly and a father of two sons who regularly accompany him to Austin's most popular swimming hole.

Mr. Patowski:
"I've written about the Springs, about swimming in the Springs, about Barton Creek and the Edwards Aquifer and water issues in general and how they affect us in Texas. It always comes back to what a unique resource Barton Springs is.

"Barton Springs is pretty free form. You've got to raise your head every now and then, or you'll have a head-on collision. You've got to watch where you're going, but you can go wherever you want to go. To me, that speaks of a certain freedom that I think most swimmers don't get to have. I feel sorry for cement pond swimmers.

"It's the little things, especially watching my two sons grow up there. Down in the shallow end, there was a little hole where you could reach under and pull out a frog. The frog lived there for at least two seasons. You'd have to feel around for him, you couldn't see where it was. We'd play with it for a little bit and put it back. Nice to know that that it was there. Crawdad discoveries have certainly gotten a big response in my family too.

"And what you see underwater. . . It's the wild things--the turtles, the eels, the snake that passed in front of my goggles once and really startled me. Seeing ducks from underneath, their legs churning, their fluffy butts wiggling around--they look so awkward.

"I can't think of anything above water that's quite as thrilling. Maybe a spot or two in the Caribbean. . ."

This story is made possible in part through support from
The National Environmental Education Training Foundation.

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