Leave a Comment / Self Care, Texas State Parks / By Susan Svec
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Coming Home to a Place That Did Not Change
I have been coming to Purtis Creek for years. Long before I ever thought about visiting all 88 Texas State Parks. Long before I had a passport journal or a sketchbook or a camera. I just came here because it was close — thirty minutes from my front door — and because it helped me breathe.
Stop #3 of 88 brought me back with new eyes. And what I noticed is that the lake looks exactly the same. The trees are the same. The quiet is the same. And somehow that felt like exactly what I needed to see.
Some things are worth coming back to. Not because they are new. Because they work. Take a visit to a Texas State Park for slow living!
What Caring for Yourself Actually Looks Like at 68
I am 68 years old. I stopped trying to look younger a long time ago — and I want to say clearly that this was not resignation. It was a decision. A conscious shift toward something that actually serves me.
What I focus on now is feeling better. Supporting myself. Resetting my energy, my spirit, my physical self. Not chasing a version of myself that belongs to a different decade, but tending carefully to the one I am living in right now.
That is what this series is about. That is what the parks allow me to do. And Purtis Creek, this quiet, familiar place I have returned to so many times, is where that understanding first took root.
At this stage of life, resetting my energy isn’t a luxury anymore. It’s how I stay myself — and that’s worth protecting.
I Used to Rush Through Places Like This
I want to be honest about something. I used to rush through places like Purtis Creek. I would arrive, walk quickly, check it off some internal list, and move on to whatever felt more urgent. I did not let it work on me.
I do not do that anymore.
When I put my hand on a tree that has been here for decades — something that has weathered Texas heat and ice storms and drought and every kind of ordinary day — I feel something settle. It puts things in perspective in a way that nothing I can arrange on a calendar ever does. It grounds me. It quiets the internal noise.
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.
Purtis Creek has been teaching me this for years. I just finally started listening.
A Small Sketch for a Quiet Day
At my last park visit — Bonham — I sat down to draw the old stone headquarters building. Big subject. A lot of weight and shadow and deliberate attention. It was a long sketch for a significant place.
Today I wanted something smaller. A few leaves on a little plant near where I was sitting. Nothing ambitious. Just an excuse to be still and look closely at one small piece of what was right in front of me.
I was an art major in college. I sketched constantly back then. And then, like many things, it drifted away for years. Coming back to it now — at this stage of life, in these parks — it feels like a form of meditation I did not know I was missing.
It does not matter what it looks like. It matters that you are doing it. It matters that you sat still long enough to actually see something.
When I sit still long enough to sketch, I can actually hear my own thoughts.
Frankincense and Myrrh: What I Use and Why
Of the four body oil scents I make, Frankincense and Myrrh is the one I reach for most. Part of it is the scent — warm, grounding, deeply familiar in a way I find hard to describe. Part of it is how it feels on my skin. And part of it, I will be honest, is the history.
The wise men brought frankincense and myrrh to the Christ child. If that is not a recommendation that has stood the test of time, I do not know what is.
But I do not use it to look younger. I use it because Texas air is not kind — the wind, the dry heat, the way seasons shift without warning — and after a few hours outside, my skin feels it. This oil moisturizes in a way that actually holds. My skin does not feel dry or itchy. I feel more comfortable in my own skin. I feel better.
At this stage of my life, feeling good is reason enough. I do not need more justification than that.
The Things That Last Are the Things That Work
Being back at Purtis Creek made me think about this idea of return. Of the things we keep coming back to — not out of habit, but because they genuinely serve us.
The lake is the same. The trees are the same. The quiet is the same. And it still works on me the way it always has. There is a particular kind of wisdom in that. Not everything needs to be new or optimized or upgraded. Some things simply work, and the proof is that you keep coming back to them.
The same is true of what I put on my skin. I have simplified considerably over the years. Fewer products. Better ingredients. Formulations rooted in nature that I understand and trust. Things I originally made for myself because I could not find them anywhere else.
Simple. Tried over time. Trusted.
That is the whole philosophy, really. In the parks and in the skincare and in this season of life.
The things I keep coming back to — in nature, in my routines, in what I put on my skin — they’re the things that actually work.
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.
Purtis Creek is stop three of 88. Cedar Hill was where the practice began. Bonham was where it deepened. Purtis Creek is where I remembered that some of the most important places are the ones you have already found.
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 Purtis Creek Visit
[ Purtis Creek State Park Stamp — Image ]
• Location: 526 FM 751, Eustace, TX 75124
• Day use hours: Typically 8 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 lake and surrounding pines — quiet, deeply restorative, especially on a weekday morning
• What to bring: Water, a journal or sketchbook, comfortable shoes, and something grounding for after — your skin will thank you
• Best time to visit: Early morning or overcast days; fall and spring are especially beautiful
• Worth noting: This is one of the closest state parks to the DFW area, which makes it ideal for a half-day reset
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 leaves instead of a landscape at Purtis Creek?
Honestly, it felt like the right scale for the day. After the deliberate, detailed work of sketching the stone building at Bonham, I wanted something small and close. A few leaves on a plant beside me. It was a reminder that you do not have to capture everything. Sometimes you just need to look carefully at what is right in front of you.
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 Frankincense and Myrrh Body Oil and why do you use it?
Frankincense and Myrrh Body Oil is one of my own handcrafted formulations — something I originally made for myself because I wanted a moisturizer that was grounding, natural, and genuinely effective on skin that had been out in the Texas elements all day. It is my favorite of the four scents I make. The history of those ingredients and the way they feel on my skin is simply good.
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.
Purtis Creek State Park is stop 3 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 slow down.