ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS WITH MISS BEAUTIFUL CHAPTER 6: THE DRUNKEN RIVER

Every river creates problems and solutions that cities will have to resolve, depending on whether water flows or doesn't flow through the basins. The very nature of the river shapes its decisions to carry the liquid across miles and miles, with the consequent benefit to the marine life it brings, because life begins with water, and water carves its way through rocky terrain, like the Colorado River, or porous terrain, like the San Antonio River.

It was said that the San Antonio River was drunk when it was born, and it had a noble origin, because its waters were pure until a good citizen left an open bottle of Mexican tequila on the riverbanks, and the tequila spilled, and the rest is history.

The drunken river was walking, leaning to the left, and realizing its inebriation four or five blocks down the road, decided to correct its course by going back up, another four or five blocks to rejoin the main line; then it did the same thing again, and the inebriation compelled it to go another four or five blocks down left, and another four or five blocks up right; and if you think that's the end of the story, tell it two more times because it went on making four or five interconnected "S" shapes from North to South, and you can imagine the hangover it left its inhabitants with when they woke up to the merciless reality, with a road snaking from North to South through the city, so much so that the residents of San Antonio built dozens of bridges to solve the problem of communication between the city's inhabitants.

It is said that the hefty DWI fines were a consequence of the traumatic experiences the "drunken river" left in the city. Judges in San Antonio learned their lesson and implemented exorbitant fines for alcoholics, which some citizens have experienced in recent years, bearing witness to a natural phenomenon.

"Don't throw tequila in the river," was the pronouncement of citizens, after the alcoholic potency of a bottle of Mexican tequila in the river. This serves to give a general idea of ​​the consequences for citizens who consume the fermented liquid—and, like the river in its ancient course, they might find themselves snaking "S" shapes on their way home.

So, like true lovers who acknowledge the flaws but weigh the pros and cons, we decided to love the river. We saw its blessings, we saw its wildness when it ran rampant, flooding homes and businesses, and yet we still loved it. We decided to embrace it, to make it our own as part of our history. We took advantage of its blessings, and for the hardships—floods, raging currents, drownings—we found solutions, because not everything was bad. Nor would we deny the raw, natural beauty of the waters, because there were greater benefits in recognizing its heritage than in denying and suppressing it.

Thus, the noble San Antonio River was born. We used its waters and made adjustments to compensate for the hardships, like true lovers who choose to embrace both aspects of their nature, like good human beings who understand the environment, with its salts and sugars, droughts and floods. Because both were good, extracting the best from each: when there is no water, it closes dams and floodgates to prevent escape; When there is too much water, they open dikes and floodgates to prevent flooding (of the city).

Ancient wisdom from ancient authorities, who gave more dissertations on problem-solving than raising their middle fingers, proudly displaying them to the public in congressional chambers like a childish prank that should be applauded for its wonderful, kind, and wise behavior, in approaches worthy of emulation.

But beyond a mythical story, and considering the geological characteristics of the terrain, the truth is that the subsoil and the land of San Antonio were porous, like sand, a subsoil that absorbs water as it passes through, which would be like placing water on sand and observing what the water does when it touches the surface, facilitating a whim of nature as the water flows "as God sees fit," freely opening channels everywhere.

Thus, the San Antonio River was born. But there were men with a strong will, men whose strength was tempered by the very nature of the river, which, through its actions and natural paths, demonstrated the patterns and procedures for facing life so that the land would produce, whether rocky or sandy. For it is necessary to constantly erode the earth with the flow of the vital liquid until the soil produces a furrow to walk upon. For the perseverance of man, like the water striking the surfaces of the subsoil, expresses what the song says: “Traveler, there is no path, the path is made by walking; blow by blow.”

Water always finds a way around the obstacles that prevent its flow, and its persistence and constant erosion of surfaces tell the story of watersheds, just as they tell the story of human beings as they walk their paths. For human beings also forge paths, forge histories, and create watersheds to tell to future generations, like the River Walk in San Antonio, Texas, which has a great story to tell about the perseverance of people in shaping futures for generations to come, futures they enjoy today. And if anything can be said about those paths, it is that they were made with love, dedication, and effort, created by others, thinking of them, so that they could be the beneficiaries of a better future, built by them, for them, and so that they could set their feet on a beautiful walk under the sun or rain along that walkway, even today.

These efforts constitute the jewels that were added to the city, little by little, with care, with effort, with pleasure…

“Traveler, there is no path, the path is made by walking.”