Save Hartlee Field Road

Originally posted Nov. 11, 2020.

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As we walk and run through the natural landscapes that surround us there is a unique bond of body, mind, and spirit that begins to develop with these special places. Connecting with nature allows us to connect with the deepest, darkest, and most personal depths of our own being. This connection teaches us patience, empathy, compassion, and above all, that, it is the quiet stillness on our planet that deeply nourishes our souls. 

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I have lived in many states in the United States, and I have lived and traveled through Central America. It is through my travels, the memories of special landscapes, and the love found within the people that I have met along my journey that feeds my creative being. Above all, it is the love, the compassion, and the generosity of the people that I have met in these spaces that tie me to my own humanity. Over the past almost four years now that my partner and myself have had our home base in North Central Texas, we have experienced a disconnect. We have a need to be by the Pacific Ocean, the mountains, the valleys, and deserts of the West. This need is not just because we have transitioned from NCAA athletes to Extreme Sports Athletes, but most importantly as the West Coast is the only place we have ever felt truly at home in a place. We both have experienced great calm and a centered sense of self when living remotely in the West. That might lead you to ask, why the heck have we been living in Texas then? The answer is simple, my husband finished his Doctorate at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA during the spring of 2017, and was hired as a tenure-track assistant professor and researcher at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX. I transferred to finish my MFA here through Texas Woman’s University, which I completed in the Fall of 2019, and my MA online through Academy of Art University in the spring of 2020. You are probably thinking, ok what does this have to do with spaces that inspire you to create and center you? My answer is Hartlee Field Road.

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Hartlee Field Road is a magical area in Denton and it leads to the only close natural preserve (Denton Clear Water Creek) where you can hike at peace in nature surrounded by beautiful Texas farmland. For all of the other spaces where you can hike, climb, and mountain bike you have to drive at least an hour on the freeway. During these crazy commutes in search of finding natural Texas landscapes unscarred by man, you pass miles of concrete roads, you travel through housing developments that look all the same (where capitalism drives all development and kills all natural trees and species living during building all in the name of profit). This is one of the major issues here in Texas; there is no concern or acknowledgment for the indigenous species of flora, fauna, and animals living in the spaces developers want to bulldoze in the name of quick easy cheap builds. During graduate school to cope with the stress, I was running 100-120 miles per week on paved roads (yes I over-trained and am currently nursing a healing ACL knee injury as a result). When I ran, I would bring my camera, and shoot the natural indigenous Texan beauty before and after developers came in. This project, a documentary series of images is still on-going, but before I go down a rabbit hole, I will re-center, and get back to Hartlee Field Road.

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Hartlee Field Road has vast open stunning Texas cattle farmland, fields of crops, unique homes with land surrounding them, and it allows the viewer/s to partake in at least three types of clouds in the sky clearly defined at any given time no matter the season. This road, the neighborhoods, farms, and natural areas surrounding a fifteen-mile square radius are so tranquil they became my go-to for a quick ten-mile de-stressing jog. My partner and I continue to run, hike, cycle, and mountain bike in this area. Recently we noticed signs were put up to “Save Hartlee Field Road +1(469) 464.9548”, which upon calling this number you can get more information. Please sign a petition to save this area (if you are a Texan, Farmer, Rancher, and or someone who likes to get outside please call) to stop the expansion of this road to essentially turn it into a minor highway. This development would displace natural inhabitants, increase stress for cattle, horses, donkeys, sheep, goats, cows, and the humans that live here. It would turn this beautiful refuge into yet another Texas concrete jungle devoid of the natural indigenous beauty.

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Hartlee Field Road has become a second home, a way for my husband, as well as myself to be able to get out into nature in-between VanLife trips in our converted Sprinter Van @luckythesprinter to the West, Southwest, and mountains when we don’t have time to drive on the freeway to get somewhere. This road allows us to train, destress from work, creating, and connect with one another as partners. More importantly, the residents do not want this conversion. 

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So please, I am writing today to urge you all, and in the Spirit of The Holidays during this awful pandemic to please call +1 (469) 464.9548 so that everyone can continue to enjoy this social distanced tranquility for years to come.

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Kindest Regards,

NORNSLIFE