Tomorrow morning is the morning of the new story of an old river and its friends.
“Uncle Joe and the Secret of Chalk Bluff” will launch into adventure no later than 9 AM CST here tomorrow morning, U.S. time. Brother Charles will join Uncle Joe on a boat ride on the Brazos River to an old site and and even older story.
Among the rivers of Texas, the Brazos is the longest, flowing across the middle of the state. In length, the stream extends 1,280 miles (2,060 kilometers). It’s so long that it has to start in another state. The headwaters emerge far to the west in Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico. Reaching the Gulf of Mexico near Freeport, down-coast from Galveston and an easy drive from Houston, the river’s mouth pours its fresh water into the salty Gulf of Mexico.
Early Spanish expeditionaries named the stream Rio de los Brazos de Dios, which means “The River of the Arms of God.” You can see the parched Spanish explorers spying the water in the distance. Raising their arms in thanksgiving and rushing forward, they fall to drink. Water is always welcome when emerging from the dry lands of the west. The arms of the Brazos have greeted many travelers from many nations on their early treks in the lands of Tejas.
Waco, Texas may be the largest city that the Brazos River actually flows through. A shy stream, it moves around and by most towns, keeping a polite distance, not looking to be seen.
Where downtown Waco sits today, a village of the Waco Indians stood on the west bank of the river. The Waco are a Wichita Native American Group. Eventually, the Waco joined other Wichita tribes in Oklahoma, but their marks remain hidden along the Brazos and in the memory of the land itself and the wild animals that walk its trails and fly its skies.
The Brazos is the 11th longest river in the United States. In its quiet manner, the river is unassuming and reserved. Still, the Arms of God serve us well.
Water energy from the dams and reservoirs along the main channel and tributaries is converted to electric power for homes and businesses. Flows diverted from its surface and pumped up from its underground aquifers provide the refreshing drink to people and animals those early explorers welcomed with raised arms. The irrigating streams to the rich farmlands that line its banks help to nurture and raise crops and seeds that are sent around the world.
Like the silent shadows of the native tribes in its past and the hard-working forms of the immigrant farmers in its present, the river does not make a show or search for notice. The Brazos is Los Brazos de Dios. It waits patiently to be found and put to good use. Would you expect less from The Arms of God?
Sometimes the most unexpected is found where least expected.
Wait to be surprised,
Grandpa Jim