Leave a Comment / Self Care, Texas State Parks / By Susan Svec
This Is About a Different Kind of Endurance
I want to tell you something I have been thinking about a lot lately.
Peace is not a passive thing. It does not just arrive when life quiets down. At 68, I have come to understand that peace is something I have to actively protect — the same way I tend to my skin, my energy, and this season of life. Every single day.
Bonham State Park, celebrating its 90th year, is where that understanding became something I could actually see and touch. Because the stone headquarters building standing at the center of this park — built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1935 — was not constructed to be beautiful. It was constructed to endure. And it has.
That is the kind of goal I am after now. Not staying young. Built with care. Made to last.
A Two-Hour Drive and a Really Good Date
Bonham is about two hours from home, and I invited my husband Jerry to come along for this one. It ended up being the loveliest kind of day — the kind you do not plan too carefully and somehow enjoy the most.
We had lunch at a small diner in Bonham before heading to the park. Then we spent a few quiet hours walking the grounds, looking at the stone structures, and sitting by the lake. Neither of us had been to Bonham before. Neither of us wanted to leave.
I share that because this series is not just about me and a sketchbook and a passport journal. It is about what happens when you make the decision to show up for yourself — and sometimes the people you love show up right alongside you.
Sometimes the best days are the ones you did not plan too carefully.
What a 90-Year-Old Stone Building Teaches You
Bonham State Park opened in 1935. The headquarters building you see throughout this episode was built by the Army Corps of Engineers — stone by stone, designed from the beginning to outlast the moment it was made.
When I sat down to sketch it, I kept coming back to that idea. There is a particular kind of wisdom in something that was built slowly, with intention, using materials that come from the earth. It does not apologize for its age. It does not try to look like something newer. It simply stands there, doing exactly what it was always meant to do.
I think that is what graceful aging looks like when you strip it all the way down.
The squirrel that ran across the top of that stone wall, backlit and completely unbothered, might be my favorite thing I captured on camera this trip. Imperfect footage. Perfect moment.
It does not apologize for its age. It simply stands there, doing exactly what it was always meant to do.
The Sketch: Drawing Something Built to Last
I brought my sketchbook to Bonham, as I bring it to every park on this journey. But this was the first time I sat down to draw a building rather than a landscape — and it taught me something I did not expect.
Drawing stone is slow work. You cannot rush the texture. You cannot fake the weight of it. Your eye has to study the way one block sits against the next, the shadows in the mortar lines, the way the corners meet. It asks for a kind of attention that is almost meditative.
By the time I was halfway through the sketch, the internal noise had completely quieted. I could hear the birds. I could feel the temperature of the air. I was, for a stretch of time, entirely present in a ninety-year-old place that had no interest in rushing me along.
That is what the sketchbook does. It is not decorative. It is one of the most practical tools I own for tending to myself well.
The sketches from all 88 parks will eventually illustrate a book I am writing about this journey. Which means every time I open that sketchbook, I am not just drawing a park. I am building something that will outlast the visit.
What Nature Does for Your Skin — and Your Energy
There is something measurable that happens when you step into a quiet outdoor space. Even in early spring, with bare trees and cool air, sitting beside the lake at Bonham I could feel something settling.
That settling is not just poetic. Chronic stress drives cortisol production, and cortisol is one of the more underappreciated contributors to dull skin, inflammation, and accelerated aging. When we genuinely slow down — not just scroll more quietly, but actually stop — we give our bodies a chance to lower that cortisol, reduce systemic inflammation, and support the skin’s natural repair processes.
Inside-out health is not a wellness trend. It is the quiet foundation of aging well. And Texas State Parks, it turns out, are very good medicine.
Fir & Cedar Soap: What I Carry and Why
I brought my Fir & Cedar Soap to Bonham. I made this soap for myself originally — not because I wanted a product, but because I wanted something grounding. Something that smelled like the outdoors I was spending more time in. Something simple enough that I actually knew what was in it.
Texas air is not kind to skin. The wind, the dry heat, the swings between seasons — your skin registers all of it. After a few hours outdoors, a proper cleanse with something that works with your body rather than against it is not a luxury. It is maintenance. The same kind of maintenance I give everything else I want to keep in good condition.
My approach to skincare has shifted considerably as I have gotten older. I do not believe aging is something I need to fight anymore. I think it is something I tend to and support — with fewer, better things. Formulations rooted in nature. Products that feel like care, not correction.
That philosophy is what every bar of soap I make is built around. And it is what this entire series is built around too.
Protecting Your Peace: What This Episode Is Really About
The theme of this visit is one I did not fully understand until I was standing in front of that stone building with my sketchbook open.
Peace is protected. It is not stumbled into. It is not gifted to you when life finally slows down — because life does not slow down on its own. You have to build the structure around it, the same way the Army Corps built structure around this land nine decades ago.
At 68, I guard what drains me. I am careful about what I let into my days and careful about what I wash away at the end of them. That is not rigidity. That is tending to yourself well. And it is something I believe every woman in this season of life deserves permission to do without apology.
Peace is protected. It is not stumbled into. You have to build the structure around it.
The Quest: 88 Parks, One Practice
The Texas State Parks Passport gets a unique stamp at each of the 88 parks in the system. I am visiting every single one, and documenting what each stop teaches me — about nature, about tending to yourself well, and about what it means to age with intention rather than resistance.
Bonham is stop #2 of 88. Cedar Hill was where the practice began. Bonham is where it deepened.
This is not a race. It is not a travel vlog. It is a guide to showing up for yourself, one park at a time.
If you are in a similar season — looking for a way to reconnect with yourself, slow down, and approach your skin and your life with more care and less urgency — you are welcome to walk this with me.
Practical Notes for Your Bonham Visit
- Location: 1416 State Hwy 56, Bonham, TX 75418
- Day use hours: Typically 6 AM to 10 PM — confirm current hours at the Texas State Parks website
- Entrance fee: Standard Texas State Park day use fees apply; the Annual Pass is worth it if you plan to visit multiple parks
- Park highlight: The 1935 stone headquarters building — take time to walk around it and look closely at the stonework
- What to bring: Water, sunscreen, a journal if that is your thing, comfortable shoes, and something grounding for after — your skin will thank you
- Best time to visit: Early morning or overcast days; spring and fall are ideal for the lake and stone structures
- Worth noting: The lake view from near the stone wall is quietly beautiful, even in winter
FAQs
What is the Texas State Parks Quest?
The Texas State Parks Quest is my personal journey to visit all 88 official Texas State Parks. Each visit is documented through video, journaling, and sketching — with a focus on how time in nature supports graceful aging, skin health, and intentional living at every stage of life.
Why do you sketch at every park?
The sketchbook is one of the anchoring practices of this whole journey. Sketching forces me to slow down and truly look at where I am — which is both a meditative practice and a creative one. The sketches from all 88 parks will eventually illustrate a book I am writing about this journey, so each drawing is also building something larger.
Why did you sketch the stone building at Bonham instead of a landscape?
Honestly, the building stopped me the moment I saw it. Something about the weight and permanence of ninety-year-old stone felt like exactly the right subject for an episode about endurance and protecting your peace. Drawing it was slower and more deliberate than sketching a landscape — which turned out to be exactly the point.
What does spending time in nature have to do with skincare and aging?
More than most people realize. Chronic stress accelerates aging both internally and in the skin — contributing to inflammation, collagen breakdown, dryness, and reactivity. Time in nature measurably lowers cortisol, supports better sleep, and reduces systemic inflammation. Combined with thoughtful topical skincare, it becomes a genuinely holistic approach to aging well.
What is Fir & Cedar Soap and why did you bring it to this park?
Fir & Cedar Soap is one of my own handcrafted formulations — something I originally made for myself because I wanted a grounding, natural cleanse that worked with the outdoors I was spending more time in. The scent felt right for Bonham — earthy, calm, a little woodsy. After a few hours in the Texas air, it is the kind of simple ritual that closes the day well.
Why essential oils? What makes your products different?
Everything I make is rooted in the belief that nature provides what our skin needs. Essential oils are not a shortcut or a trend in my line — they are the foundation. The same philosophy that brings me into these parks informs every formulation: fewer, better, natural ingredients that support the skin rather than stress it.
How do I get a Texas State Parks Passport?
The Texas State Parks Passport is available through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department — online or at many park visitor centers. Each park stamps your passport with its unique stamp when you visit. It is a quiet, satisfying way to mark the journey.
How can I follow along with this series?
Subscribe to my YouTube channel for new park episodes each week, and bookmark this blog for the written companion posts. Each post goes deeper into the themes from that visit — nature, graceful aging, sketching, and caring for yourself well at every stage of life.
Bonham State Park is stop #2 of 88 on my Texas State Parks Quest. New episodes post every Friday. If this resonated with you, share it with someone else who is ready to protect their peace.