Remote Beauty

Sargent, Texas

When people think of Texas, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio or Austin comes to mind. And even the locals, would say the Hill Country, Marfa or Big Bend.

Last summer, I was introduced to a little community called Sargent. It’s about an hour and a half southwest of Houston in Matagorda County. Historically, it’s been a fishing community for locals and people who live a few miles away. It was named after a man who helped settle the area and was later killed during a tropical storm/hurricane.

The first thing you notice when you get to “town” if you can call it that, is a little intersection with a bait shop, bar, and Saturday morning flea market. As you progress further towards the coast, you see a volunteer fire station, gas station and then a Dollar General store. On this day in late January, as I drove into town and towards the coast, several vehicles rushed by flashing their lights. They were heading to fight a nasty brush fire. These men and women volunteer and when the alarm sounds, they rush to douse any fire that’s in their way. If you ever meet one of these people in person, you may want to say thanks in advance. One day it could be your home.

Back to my views of the day. I turned behind the Dollar General to capture the sun behind the clouds and in the distance I could see the brush fire, and the firefighters doing their job. For the rest of the residents, it’s about 48 degrees on this day, perfect to be outside but a tad bit chilly. When I first reached the coast, the quiet beauty of Sargent Beach awed me. For miles, you can see huge trees washed ashore, a blue sky and the crush of the waves slowly eroding the coast. The tide was going out, and while I roamed the shoreline, it was clear that I was seeing more and more of the beach. Once upon a time, this beach was marketing for tourism as well as fishing. You can see covered areas for eating just a few feet away from the beach.

I met a loan fisherman on this trip. I asked him what was he trying to catch. His response, “whatever I can eat.” Clearly he was in search of dinner and perhaps lunch for the next day. I never saw him reel anything in. I hope his luck eventually worked for him. That’s one story I’ll never know. What struck me though, was the amount of things that were once alive, but now dead. The dunes were full of tall grass killed off by a recent cold spell. A rare event for a region were temperature never usually dip below freezing. I’ll share a story on that another time. The clouds were amazing. Most of the morning, clouds ruled the day. But when I arrived the skies began to clear off, but not before putting on a display that I’ll never forget. Large, puffy clouds reminded me that, like them we are merely a moment in time. As beautiful as life is, it is only a gift, which has a beginning and an end.

While there at the beach, I could also see the intercostal waterway. There the tugboats move precious cargo along the Texas coast without fear of damage from the Gulf of Mexico. Today, it was natural gas being moved on barges. The other thing I noticed were the homes along the coast. These homes are a business, developed for vacation/fishing rental. As remote as this place is, the prices are pretty steep. Who knew? I didn’t, that’s for sure. Anyway, I was about to walk up into the dunes to capture a few photos of the tall dead grasses, when a man pulled up in an old pickup truck. He clutches a beer between his legs and gave me a strict warning. “Young man, I killed 3 rattlesnakes in this area last week. Walking up through those dunes may not be a good idea!” Oh shit! I stopped and looked around. Research later confirmed his story. At times, snakes along the coast pull heat from the winter sun hitting the sand to stay alive and to hunt. That could have ended badly for me…