Mayfield Park & Preserve
Mary Mayfield Gutsch presented an estate to the city of Austin in 1971, as a park for all citizens of Austin to enjoy. This park is named Mayfield Park & Preserve. On the grounds there is a historic cottage, two acres of garden, and twenty-one more acres of forest paths, creek bridges, and lakeside trails. There are many plants native only to Texas, and all invasive animals and plant species have been carefully removed. Native animals have a luscious locale in both earth and water, as there is a lake and many small creeks. The park makes sure their habitat stays fresh and intact. The environment recreates the land that the Spanish explorers found and settled, and keeps wildlife safe, earning it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.
I recently went to Mayfield Park, and the first thing I saw was a peacock. And then another. And then one more. Obviously, the first thing you should do when you see a super cool and adorable bird is pet it, right? Unfortunately, these peacocks didn’t share my professional opinion. I would take a step forward- the peacock would take one backwards. Following around fifty useless steps, and around five gorgeous, un-cuddled peacocks, I snapped some pictures and stalked off. And since they were so uncooperative, I didn’t even get to see them with open feather-wing-thingies!
After a fair bit of stomping and begging my mom if I could please adopt a peacock, I realized the trail we’d taken had pulled us in a dense forest, with no roads or human interference anywhere. It was beautiful. The trees formed a shading canopy above us, and there were vines and wildflowers everywhere. There were forest critters lurking behind every tree, it seemed- I only caught sight of a few when I was able to whip my head around fast enough after hearing the soft rustle of the bushes.
Every time we passed an overgrown, miniscule trail, I had an undeniable urge to follow it, and so my mother and I got lost many more times than intended. On one such directional misunderstanding, we arrived at a series of creeks and microscopic ravines and, of course, I jumped over all of them, completely ignoring the strangely placed natural stepping stones. The raw territory was more fascinating with every step, and I decided right then that I absolutely loved hiking.
Once we mysteriously made it to the cottage and gardens, my mother sat on the cottage steps to pant and chug water- but not I. For lo and behold, more peacocks. And not just any peacocks- there were white ones as well. As expected, I tried everything. Crawling, slowly stalking, feeding, taking pictures (“Come towards the pretty light, little birdie,”) and eventually chasing like a madwoman. When I realized that the stubborn creatures would not, by any means, let me hold and pet and cuddle them, I shuffled over to the reedy ponds and stared at the water, wishing the Disney movies were accurate in that water worked like a mirror.
When it was time to head back, after being so sad about the peacocks, I found a miraculous thing- more trails. I raced through them, stopping short when a rock wall perhaps the size of a one-storey house loomed in front of me. I happily handed mom the camera and began my ascent. I climbed every available surface, across and up. I’m pretty sure I jumped from at least three separate rock walls. Then the scary part came. Getting down.
“Go sideways,” Mom called. It wasn’t very reassuring seeing as the wall was pretty much vertical. I slowly made my way down, grabbing hold of each branch or twig or rock, and refusing to slide down on my butt, because that would just be so unladylike. I jumped down from the last outcropping of dirt and ran down the wrong trail. Again.
The last part of our hike brought us to a lake. It was huge and had a cliff on one side, and mini-marshes on the other. An old lake house was perched precariously on the side of the cliff. I took a picture and left. Lakes had never enticed me.
After agreeing to follow my mom for once, we safely made it back to humanity. Although I’m pretty sure I liked the untamed forest better, we had to leave for civilization. I snuck up behind a peacock and watched it hop away before leaving.
Lucky Spaniards, getting all that fresh land.
