Wildlife and rocket parts
On New Year’s Day of 2021, Crash and I ventured out with my sister to Boca Chica, Texas, to see the SpaceX Launch Facility. What dystopian science fiction author wouldn’t want to see this place of dreams, right down Highway 4? Besides, it was as good a way as any to put 2020 in our rear view mirror and start new chapters in our lives.
Boca Chica is only about five miles down the coast from South Padre Island. But the journey by car spans 40 miles, circumnavigating the bridgeless Verdolaga Lake and the Brownsville Ship Channel. The drive may seem barren to the casual observer, and in the most obvious sense, there is nothing on the road to Boca Chica. But I encourage you to be more than a casual observer. Look beyond the obvious, and if you aren’t in a hurry, the land will reveal many seasons that have come and gone here–seasons not just of nature but of people, with all their hopes and dreams, fears and worries.
For instance, during the Mexican-American War, Boca Chica was the site of Camp Belknap, a staging point for over 7,000 volunteer forces. The men suffered an array of manmade problems (the war, overcrowding, and unsanitary conditions) as well as the habitat’s flora and fauna that sting, stab, and bite human bodies and souls.
It is also considered by many to be the site of the last Civil War battle. A full month after the Confederacy surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse, fighting erupted at Palmito Ranch between Union and Confederate troops. Both sides knew the war was over, so best anyone can guess, the fighting was about pride, money, or possibly resources like horses and cotton. If the commanders offered any explanations, they’ve been lost in the wind..
Even today, conflict continues in the area, but it’s a different kind of fighting–a fight for survival. Boca Chica serves as a wildlife refuge for sea turtles and a variety of birds, including endangered aplomado falcons and piping plovers. It is also home to one of only two known breeding groups of ocelots, wild cats who live in the thorn forests and mangrove marshes.
Painted on the backdrop of this conflict is a new plot twist for Boca Chica–a quest for the treasure of knowledge as man seeks to overcome the universe in Boca Chica Village. The settlement consists of a small collection of buildings and bears no city limit sign or population count. Instead, visitors are greeted by what might be an old propane tank, neatly painted in welcome. I have no doubt that the population is negligible, unless you count dreams and rocket parts. If you do that, the population is booming.
All humans are dreamers, but some of us dream bigger and louder than others. Elon Musk dreams so big and so loud that the world cannot help but notice, and those of us who hear the sound cannot help but respond to the call.
I responded to the call, driving down Highway 4 to see the rockets and the hangars that house them. They stand tall against the vast landscape, right next to the road like grain silos in America’s farmland. But instead of corn or wheat, these silos store knowledge–knowledge seeded by dreams, watered with perseverance, and harvested with rocket fuel.
Those who come stop along the road to witness and photograph the buildings and rockets that sit only yards away from the pavement. It’s all anyone can do since there are no tours or exhibits. I suppose that makes sense–we all want to share in the dream, but this is a place to test rockets, not entertain the public. Security officers are present but unobtrusive, gracious enough–at least for now–to those of us who creep down the shoulder of the road, yard by yard, pointing our cameras in awe at the future this place promises.
From the road, I see a new rocket standing tall, next to the debris of the last rocket that exploded short weeks ago. I am struck by the realization that this is the way of dreams. They aren’t all sunshine and roses, but there are no casualties–only lessons learned. What appears to be wreckage is not a failure, but only a spent piece of a larger dream, a stepping stone to move forward. This insight gives me hope as I look into my own winding, often-foggy dreamscape. I take comfort knowing that my imagination is interwoven with everything I see, for the dreams of science and science-fiction are hopelessly intertwined–feeding and inspiring each other, and holding each other to account.
I breathe in the excitement of Boca Chica and exhale slowly, sketching out the sequel to Evolving Elizah: Initiatum, and I allow myself to wonder. Perhaps someday… After the rockets are perfected, of course, and after Mars is or is not colonized… Perhaps that day, Elon–or someone like him–will dream of a space farm, similar to the Green Grow 3. Perhaps he will find it a worthy solution to the problems of the world, and perhaps he will take the words from my pages and mold them into something tangible.
Stranger things have happened, so I cannot discount the possibility that it will happen. Until then, I will keep writing.
SpaceX Launch Facility
Boca Chica, Texas