We started our Bedi's Bike Ride trip (the one where we follow Bedi's route with our trucks and travel trailers) in Waco, Texas (about 20 miles from his starting point in Eddy) to view the April 8, 2024 eclipse. What an amazing celestial event! It was my second solar eclipse, but the better, by far. Coincidentally, Bedi was born one month before the eclipse of 1878 that crossed the US. That year, the US scientific community leveraged the eclipse to "prove" itself as more than a bunch of hicks in the "new" world.
Scientists and astronomers from around the world gathered in cities within the path of totality -- including Texas, though the Rocky Mountains were a popular destination for taking advantage of the higher altitudes and less atmosphere. There was also a very large citizen science project where folks across the path of totality were asked to sketch what they saw and submit their drawings. Though the 1878 eclipse did go over Central Texas where Bedi spent his childhood, it did not traverse over Newsmanville, Illinois where he was born.
More links about the 1878 eclipse in Texas.
After witnessing the eclipse with family and friends, we headed to the Gulf coast of Texas. This area was not on 29-year-old Bedi's bike ride route, but it is an area about which he grew to know intimately and was the focus of his second book, Karankaway Country.
In his notes, he remembers his 12-year-old self seeing the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. Growing up on the central Texas prairie, he understood water to be a scarce resource and was awestruck by the shear amount of water as far as his eyes could see. He also had an immediate realization that there was an entire world out there that he had not seen or experienced. I think his inherited wanderlust got a little boost right then.
Karankaway Country is a book less about the native tribes that lived on the coast and more about the flora, fauna and the effects of generations of humans -- mostly the Europeans -- on the area. This migratory route for birds makes it a haven for birders. There are many nature reserves -- often very near built up areas and oil refineries, an odd juxtaposition. Bedi was an avid supporter of the effort to preserve key spots for nature to flourish. More on that in another postcard.
My father's (not Bedichek's) ancestors were some of the first European immigrants to settle in the Galveston area. They were architects, ship-builders and carpenters. My family roots in this area are generations deep, with the first immigrant arriving from Pennsylvania in 1837. Live Oak trees planted by my Great-Great-Grandfather Derrick in the 1800s are big and mighty trees today. Family lore says they brought the acorns from Louisiana.
The Texas Coast is beautiful, and like most of Texas can be unforgiving -- with the heat, humidity, high winds and torrential rains, mosquitos, scorpions and snakes. As a friend recently noted, Texas is "Australia light." I'd say that pretty much sums it up.
Here are some photos from our coastal leg, so far.
Thank you Karen! I love what you are doing!
Great post and photos.