Goodbye Austin

Here I sit in another service apartment, almost 8 months after we returned to the US from Hong Kong. This apartment is even more temporary for me than the last one (although Lee has been living in it for almost 2 months). In two days we close on our house in New Hampshire; in three days we start moving in.

I’m going to change the title of this blog. I don’t know WHAT I’m changing it to yet, however! But I’d rather just change the title than start an entirely new blog. This transition, from one place to another, and yet another, has gotten fairly tiresome in the past year. I’m ready to settle down in one place for awhile, make a house into a home, plant a garden, and get a dog and a cat.

But in the meantime I feel like I owe Austin more than just a fleeting “seeya!” before I plunge headlong into the end of a New England fall and straight into a snow bank! Austin has been part of my life in one fashion or another for almost 30 years. My sister and her husband moved here in the early eighties so that he could go to engineering school at UT. I know I visited them in Austin before I had Sarah, but a lot of those visits are kind of jumbled up in my mind. I remember a student apartment that must have been somewhere close to UT. I remember their very-long-lived cat, Otis. I remember going to 6th street and wandering in and out of various bars, listening to the music change and trying not to get lost in the crowds. I remember going to Amy’s Ice Cream, when “smushing” mix-ins into ice creams was a new and delicious idea.  I remember going to Las Manitas for breakfast, somewhere way out in the country for a family-style meal, Central Market for groceries.

Then we both had children and I started taking turns with each child. One year Sarah would come with me, the next year it would be Daniel. One time Sarah and I had to run through the Dallas airport to make our connection (this must have been pre-Sky Train!). I had her grasped like a football under my arm, a fellow passenger had me by the hand, and we FLEW through that airport, all the time Sarah quietly insisting “put me down, Mama, I can walk!” I didn’t even bother to argue with her. We made that plane, too!

Then my sister and her husband moved out to Pflugerville in the late 80’s. I got a whole different perspective on Austin. There were highways springing up all over the place, and the traffic was terrible. Suburban Austin didn’t have near the charm of the older parts of the city, but I think part of the problem was that this one visit I came in October. The weather was hot and miserable, and the baby Jessica saga was on TV (remember the child that fell down the well? That happened in Texas). Every other time, I came in the spring, which is when Texas is at its very best.

In the early 90’s my sister moved to the neighborhood near 35th Street and Jefferson. It was a beautiful neighborhood. Her kids went to Briker Woods Elementary School. We went for walks on Schoal Creek, went shopping at the Arboretum, and visited the State Capitol.

Until the mid-90’s my memories of Austin are all happy ones. I don’t want to get into it here, but the late 90’s were not a happy time for my sister and her family. I have very sad and horrible memories of this time. Although it is not fair to somehow blame Austin for my sister’s problems, it’s only too true that my perception of this city is forever altered by the events that took place back then. So, when we found out that we would be moving here, my feelings were inevitably mixed. I was happy, because it was the start of a new chapter in our lives, one that we hoped would lead to new challenges for Lee and new adventures for the both of us. But I was worried as well, because of the unhappy events that had occurred here. Eventually the opportunities for Lee and the adventures for me all came to pass. We lived in Austin for almost 2 years before we moved to Hong Kong, and Hong Kong never would have been possible if we had not moved to Austin first.

During this period of time our house was burglarized. This experience left me shaken. I learned once again that my judgment was sometimes flawed and someone close to me was not trustworthy. It left a lasting feeling of being unsafe in my own home that lingered even after we returned to Austin from Hong Kong.

What will I NOT miss about Austin? I will not miss the endless summers. I won’t miss day after day of 100 degree plus heat. I won’t miss the giant cockroaches, or the scorpions, or the mosquitoes. I won’t miss the feeling that my liberal-leaning vote was irrelevant in such a conservative state. I won’t miss feeling like I live somewhere that I don’t really belong.

What WILL I miss about Austin? I will miss the wildflowers in the spring. I will miss the mild, pleasant winters. I will miss the friends I made. I’ll miss some of the great restaurants we found. I’ll miss the uniquely Austin music scene. I miss running on Town Lake. I’ll miss getting to go to ACL, mud, heat, dust and all.

When it’s all said and done, am I glad I lived in Austin, Texas for a time? I have to say ultimately – yes. Texas and I may have never meshed all that well, but that’s okay. Austin is part of who I am, and it seems like it was necessary for me to live there to complete a portion of my life. I’m glad I lived there and I’m glad to be moving on. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I get a craving for Tex-Mex though…

Web images courtesy of http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/austin-city-guide-ga-13.jpg (Amy's Ice Cream), http://perceptivetravel.com/blog/wp-content/las-manitas-front-resized-to-600.jpg (Las Manitas), http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Texas45.jpg (Texas road construction). The blue bonnets are mine.

ACL 2009

Friday, October 2nd, 2009.
Jim the taxi-man comes and gets us at 12:30. I’m waiting excitedly in the dining room, looking at the street, like a little kid waiting for a birthday party to start! The traffic is crazy – we have to turn around and go the back way to the drop-off by Austin High School. But all is well when we get into the park. Gorgeous weather – the best they’ve ever had for ACL. Highs in the 70’s, sunny, puffy clouds.

First up Blitzen Trapper, a Grateful Deadish sounding band. This is our first introduction to the biggest problem of the day. The sound is loud, and the bass is overwhelming. And if you sit far enough back to not go deaf sound bleeds through from other bands. This is the first year we’ve ever noticed this. One of the great things about ACL has always been that there are so many choices and the stages are constructed so that sound-bleed has never been an issue. I don’t know if it’s the bands or the sound-systems or our ages but this year it’s noticeable.

We listen to about ½ of the Blitzen Trapper set, and unimpressed, walk over to hear Mishka instead. He’s a rockin’ reggae performer that is very enjoyable. After that we walk over to hear Jonell Mosser, a lovely Bonnie Rait-like singer. She’s got a really nice voice; sings creative covers. I wouldn’t mind hearing more of her.

Then it’s over to another stage to listen to Todd Snyder. He’s a hoot – clever lyrics, talking blues. I wouldn’t buy him though I’d go to hear him again in a second.

From there we go over to our old spot under the trees near the AMD stage. We plan on just hanging out, but we happen to be there for Phoenix, a French pop band. At first I’m only half listening but as their set goes on I realize I really like them. They’re good, and it seems like all 65,000 people at ACL agree. It gets crowded, REALLY crowded. Since we never stay to hear the headliners this is by far the most crowded I’ve ever seen ACL. I think this band might be on the verge of becoming the next Coldplay or something. Well if so I can say we saw them “when”!

Then it’s over to Xbox360 stage to listen to Raphael Saadiq. R&B with a beat. He’s fun but this is another thing about ACL. At some point I go into musical overload and really can’t process what I’m hearing anymore. That point comes sometime during Saadiq’s set. I know he’s good but I really don’t care. I decide I need a glass of wine.

Lee goes over to hear the Greencards (bluegrass); I stay on the west side of the park to listen to John Legend. He’s beautiful and his band and backup singers are polished and professional, but I’m too far back again and the bleed from the other end of the park is bad and distracting. I wouldn’t mind hearing more of him though.

After John Legend Lee and I meet at the Hudson Cone stand for dinner. Oh those shrimp and avocado cones….one of the best features of ACL is the food. It’s not just corndogs and fries at this festival. Local restaurants put on as good a show as the bands. Earlier in the day Lee and I split a small Amy’s Ice Cream…wow how we’ve changed….we’re just not used to all that butter cream and sugar anymore.

I’m ready to listen to Andrew Bird, except for the whistling he’s one of the best performers on Friday. He’s very good, violin, voice, everything. I’m going to buy more of him at some point.
Then Lee leaves and I stay. I listen to Kings of Leon for awhile but they don’t really hold my interest. I turn around and listen to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs instead. They’re more my style – I like Karen O’s kimono at any rate!

At the end Mel and Stan and I meet as planned. We walk into the Stafford Road neighborhood and Lee comes and picks us up. A good day…but I’m really tired and we all sleep soundly. I don’t know what today is going to be like. Rain, heavy at times is the prediction. We don’t plan on leaving for the park until around 2 pm, and we don’t plan on staying late either. Will we be okay with parkas and umbrellas? I sure hope so! I really want to see Bon Iver and the Decembrists, rain or no rain!

Saturday, October 2nd, 2009
Well the rains came just like expected. We wait until later to go to the festival this day. We went to Shoal Creek with Mel, Stan and their children Brett and Lindsay for lunch first. I didn’t vary from my favorite thing on the menu this time – Cajun Gumbo with their wonderful roux, smoked duck and andoille sausage. From there Mel and Stan drop Lee and I off by the Mo-Pac bridge because I want to hear Grizzly Bear and they don’t want to go until later.

Grizzly Bear is good, but I don’t take notes so my memories aren’t quite as detailed as what I had on Friday. I remember that I liked them, but not a clue what they sounded like! But in the back of my mind I know they’re a group I want to listen to again. We placed our chairs in a circle somewhat equidistant between the Dell and Livestrong stages. It started raining harder and harder. I had brought my Shanghai Tang umbrella. I worked well to keep most of the rain off. Lee just had a water resistant jacket with a hood and he got pretty wet. Vickie and Michele showed up at one point and donated a VIP rain poncho to him, and he was grateful. Even with an umbrella I got fairly damp at times. Water would accumulate in the seams and eventually drip through, on my nose usually.

The most problematic part of the weather ended up being at our feet. I had decided on flip flops, thinking that wet tennis shoes would end up feeling pretty unpleasant. At first this wasn’t too bad. Yes my feet were wet, and covered in grass, but it wasn’t cold so it was tolerable. Later on, however, was another story.

We stayed in our circle of chairs through a band called Mute Math and another called Citizen Cope. I enjoyed Citizen Cope, enough to want to listen to more of him at some point. When he was almost finished with his show I decided I wanted to try to get up closer for Bon Iver and bid farewell to the chair circle. We agreed that I was on my own at this point, since the rest of the group wasn’t sure they would stay in the rain for much longer.

I edged my way closer, keeping my umbrella up and trying not to get in anyone’s way. I made it close enough to hear the show well, but not close enough to see much more than the video screen.

Bon Iver was surprising in concert. I’d read an article about him (Justin Vernon) in the New Yorker and on his albums he doesn’t have a band, he plays all the instruments and does all the harmonies himself. But of course on stage he had to have a band. He also changed his arrangements a little, adding some electronic flourishes and even rocking out upon occasion.
His songs are beautiful and his lyrics complicated and mysterious. He’s got a limited repertoire though. His last album came out in 2007 and it doesn’t seem like he has much if any new material yet. I wonder if he is working on things that aren’t ready yet or has just written what he has got to write and that’s all there is?

After Bon Iver I decided to get something to eat. I would have liked to have heard The Levon Helm Band, but I wanted to hear The Decembrists (and stand up close) more so I knew I would have to get a place to stand early.

I wanted a P.Terry’s veggie burger for dinner, and so did a lot of other people. The line, although long, moved quickly. The biggest problem was at our feet. The beautiful grass which had held up so nicely on Friday didn’t handle the rain and those thousands of feet so well on Saturday. In many places it was quickly returning to mud. This was a problem with flip flops. At first I thought people were stepping on my heels but then I realized that the mud was sucking at them and almost tearing them off my feet with every step. I tried taking them off and walking barefoot, but then I had the muddy, nasty things in my hands, so I just put them back on my feet and walked carefully.

Back to the Dell Stage I went veggie burger in hand. I inched my way up as close as I reasonably could. I had a really decent look at the stage, if I managed to avoid the tall people that inevitably decide they need to step to the front. There was also a hue and cry against umbrellas up close and I complied once the show started. I got out my trusty white running hat with the flap to cover my neck and a bill. This kept my head reasonably dry.

The Decembrists put on an AWESOME show! He has a new album out and he has incorporated two women vocalists into his act. One of them has a beautiful low voice and on her solo just stole the show. The other had a high, pure voice, an angelic face, and a shimmery white gown! I’ve heard some of his new songs and they are great. Once again, after hearing him live I know that’s one album I’m going to buy for sure. Lee makes fun of me for liking him. He finds him pretentious and yes, his lyrics are over the top sometimes, but I love the stories he tells. They excite my imagination and I often find myself daydreaming about them after I have had him playing on my IPod.

I enjoyed day two very much, in spite of the rain. Today (Sunday) we’re heading to the park early. We want to catch Black Joe Louis and the Honey bears at 12:30 and the B-52’s at 2 pm. After that it’s the Heartless Bastards and then home. Pearl Jam plays tonight at 8 pm. They have a new album that is currently the number one album in the country. I’d really like to hear them, but right now, even after 3 cups of coffee I’m pretty tired. I’m a little apprehensive about the mud too. It could just be a quagmire by tonight. And Lee has a 7AM flight to catch tomorrow morning. All that probably adds up to me not going. I hope it doesn’t end up being like Coldplay four years ago, where we left and I spent the next year regretting it.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Sunday dawns without rain. Yay! It appears that the rain has moved away from Austin. It’s cloudy, not too hot and we’re ready for the B-52’s! We decide that we don’t need chairs today. It’s going to be muddy, so we go for old tennis shoes and clothes that will wash easily.

We head for Zilker earlier than we have on the other days. There’s a soul band called Black Joe Lewis and the HoneyBears at 12:30 that we want to hear on the AMD Stage. We get right up in the “no chairs” area and figure out that if we stand against the edge of the sound booth there is a small metal walkway all around the booth. We can stand on this walkway and don’t have to stand directly in the mud. We can put our bags down without getting them muddy and we can lean against the booth too. This is a good deal. The mud is viscous, gooey and a bit smelly too. It’s just nicer to not have to stand directly in it.

The Honeybears are lots of fun, but I’m restless, so I volunteer to go get our lunch. I want barbeque from the Saltlick and Lee gets a steak frites sandwich from Aquarelle. Mine is good (I get it with cole slaw right on the barbeque) but Lee’s is REALLY good. Steak thinly sliced, some kind of creamy sauce and spicy French fries right on the sandwich. He has a little trouble getting his sandwich back from me after he offers me a bite!

Then we have an hour in-between the Honeybears and the B-52’s but we don’t want to lose our spot so we decide to just hang out. I entertain myself taking pictures of all the darling Wellies trouping by. I used to see these colorful rain boots in Hong Kong sometimes and I would think people were crazy because when it rains in Hong Kong it’s usually hot and muggy as well. Rubber boots in those conditions would be extremely uncomfortable I would think, but today at ACL they’re a must-have fashion item it would seem.

Finally, the B-52’s begin their show. First thing – hey, they’re old! They’re at least as old as I am, and I’m charmed by the sight of wildly dressed women grooving onstage in their signature beehive hairdos! I just feel kind of proud of my cohort there for a moment – their arms aren’t flabby, their gowns are cool and their makeup is out of this world…and they can still really, really sing. Roam Around the World, Love Shack and other songs that sound vaguely familiar are a treat. I bounce around and clap and sing along with the best of them.

After the B-52’s we bid farewell to Mel and Stan. This was their first ACL; I hope they had fun. We want to hear the Heartless Bastards, so we head gamely over to the Dell stage. Oh my…on the higher ground the mud isn’t too bad, but as we come down the hill by the big tree there’s a river of mud at the bottom. We walk through it and attempt to find a place to stand that isn’t too disgusting. The Heartless Bastards are good, but as we stand there I start to realize just how tired I am. I look over at the Livestrong stage, where Pearl Jam will play tonight. I think about how much farther I would need to go into the sea of mud before me in order to hear or see anything. Three days of walking, standing, and dancing, in sunshine, rain, and mud have taken their toll. I’m ready to go home and Lee is agreeable so we leave, and I know then that I’m not coming back tonight.

As always ACL is just fun, fun, fun. This was an unusual year. Held later because of a bye week for UT football, it was cooler, but going later into the fall in Austin always means there is a higher risk of rain. It was nice to not have to deal with 100 degree temps though. And the music was good, very good. I have a huge list of performers to listen to in more detail and like most years I would imagine that I’ll end up with several groups that become my favorites that before this weekend I had never heard of before.

Going to something like ACL keeps me young and at the same time makes me feel old. I was really tired after the festival this year. The bands seemed louder too, loud enough that we employed the use of ear plugs, which we haven’t done before.

I hope the grass recovers, and I hope it doesn’t rain next year. And I hope this isn’t the last ACL for us.

Mount Bonnell and Mayfield Nature Preserve

On Friday morning instead of taking my usual walk around the neighborhood for a non-running exercise day, I hopped in the car and drove over to Mount Bonnell. Mount Bonnell is the highest point in Austin. I had already driven over to that area, just to see how to get there and what it was like. It’s over by Laguna Gloria, the Austin Museum of Art, so I already knew that it was in a hilly, beautiful area of Austin.

Austin isn’t mountainous by any stretch of the imagination, but its definitely hilly on our side of town. Austin kind of sits on a divide. To the east toward Bastrop and Houston, the land flattens out. You run into pine forests and different plants and animals. West Austin is the beginning of Texas Hill Country, without question the most beautiful part of Texas. Well I guess I shouldn’t say that, since I guess some people would say Big Bend and the Rio Grande should lay claim to that. But the hill country really is beautiful. None of the hills are huge; I think Mount Bonnell is around 875 ft above sea level. But the land is full of rolling undulations and endless valleys followed by steep inclines. In the valleys in the springtime flowers bloom and little creeks roll over rocks.

So I drove to Mount Bonnell and parked in the spaces provided at the bottom of the steps. Now Hong Kongers will laugh; to get to the top of this “Mount” takes 108 steps! Heck, the Big Buddha has close to 400 steps, and most of our hikes in Hong Kong included at least one trek up 800-1500 steps. So 100 steps is truly nothing, and as a workout Mount Bonnell was a disappointment. But the view was really nice! It was quite panoramic.

In one direction I could see UT and downtown Austin.





In the other direction the hill country spread out endlessly, with Lake Austin and the Hwy 360 Bridge providing a nice contrast with the mansion-covered hills.

I needed more exercise, so as I was driving back home I decided to stop at the Mayfield Nature Preserve, close to Laguna Gloria and see what they had. They had some nice trails that I explored for a bit, and what looked like a beautiful garden, that I decided to save for another day.

The True Blue Flower Gail featured in her gardening blog the other day was right along the path!

And, they had peahens and peacocks! The peacock was quite entertaining. He put on a show, and I could only assume this was just for me, since the other peahens had wandered off, and I was the only female around! He kept turning in a stately circle, as I crept after him with my camera. It was a nice way to end a very pleasant morning!

First he coyly peaked at me around the corner...

Then he spread his beautiful feathers!

Delighted, I crept closer and he started to turn, first one direction...

And then the other!

For more information about Mayfield, click here: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/mayfield.htm

Prickly Pears

I’ve always thought prickly pears were ugly. Ugggllyy! Funny-looking, cactus-like plants, growing where cacti aren’t welcome. Usually kind of bent and worn looking, like random animals and perhaps a truck or two have run over them.

And people around here seem to love them. I guess they’re easy enough to grow, so people stick them in the ground where-ever they have a corner that’s too sunny and hot and difficult to water for anything else.

I remembered seeing prickly pears occasionally in Missouri as well, so I did a little research. Apparently prickly pears are one of only a few cold-tolerant cacti; some species are found as far north as British Columbia! Weird.

When we lived here before I don’t remember seeing the prickly pears do anything very interesting. They just sat there in people’s yards and off in the brush looking bent and neglected. But a couple of weeks ago while I was taking one of my neighborhood walks I noticed that the prickly pears were doing something unusual. They were blooming! Bright yellow flowers were sprouting on the tips of their cactus-like stumps and red bulbs started appearing after the flowers fell off. Not only that, but new, green, PRETTY growth was appearing on the tips of the pears. What was going on?




Austin has been in the midst of a drought most of this year and last. We moved back about the time that the drought broke, but it’s still very dry and the lakes and rivers are very low. Maybe the prickly pears are reacting to the extreme lack of water, followed by a wetter period. Maybe the pears thought – make flowers and grow while we can!

For around a week I’ve been saying to myself that I should take my camera when I go for a walk around the neighborhood so that I could take pictures of the developing blooming prickly pears and the other beautiful yards and gardens in the neighborhood. So far I haven’t remembered to do that, but I have been periodically throwing my camera in my purse like I used to do in Hong Kong. So, the other day when I ate lunch at Whole Foods I was in for a surprise.



It was pretty nice outside so I decided to go up and eat on their rooftop. I know that sounds strange, but Austin is the “world headquarters” for Whole Foods and their store here is like a Disneyland for foodies. Their café is huge and includes a nice outdoor seating area and the above-mentioned rooftop as well. So up I went.

What should I see to my surprise but a whole garden of prickly pears, all in bloom! It was rather over-whelming and very beautiful. Of course here was my opportunity for prickly-pear pictures and I took advantage of that.



In Hong Kong I kept my camera with me because I never knew what strange and interesting sight I would run across. Here in Austin I’m not sure yet what I might run into. So far I’ve run into prickly pears. Well. That’s a start!

Springtime in Austin

I’m taking a page from one of my best friends in the whole world and also one of my favorite bloggers, Gail. Gail’s blog entries often consist of pictures and few words. Her pictures of the flowers, plants and animals in her garden are exquisite. The pictures tell a story and the words are only needed to guide us a bit along the garden path.



Well spring is just exploding in Austin. This is the BEST time of the year in Texas! In Missouri I always liked October the best (Hong Kong was February, right after Chinese New Year when the skies were clear and it was actually cool outside!) but in Texas its April for sure. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been taking pictures of the wildflowers and blooming trees and scrubs. There is nothing in the WORLD like Texas wildflowers! The bluebonnets are carpeting the fields and highways with the most intense blue you can possibly imagine. This morning on the way to the house people were stopped all over The Capital of Texas Highway. They had their babies and children plopped in the middle of the bluebonnets while they snapped away and the babies beamed. Somewhere there is a picture of Nicole and Cody when they were little smiling among the Texas flowers. What nice memories!

Enjoy these pictures friends. Springtime in Austin….














For more springtime in Austin pictures go to my Flickr website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/momwizard/sets/72157616355846548/

Austin March 24th 2009

Let’s do a bit of “flash forward” for a bit, shall we? We’ve been back in Austin for a little over two weeks now. For the first week I was just disgusted by our old house. It was SO dirty, the yard was in shambles, the kitchen and bathrooms looked dingy…it was just a mess! Plus my first job was scrubbing the woodwork so that Lee could paint it so I was at insect level with the floor and the worst of the dirt. But now I’ve gone on to painting the walls, and slowly things are coming together. As each room gets the woodwork and then the walls painted it starts looking brighter, cleaner, and more inhabitable. It’s very satisfying.

This weekend they laid new sod in the yard. The yard was just a horrible mess. Our house sitter had gotten a large dog which just KILLED the grass. There were SIXTY bags of leaves in the yard! Not to mention all the fallen branches from the live oaks…just pitiful. Now with all the trash hauled away and the beautiful sod in place it really looks nice.

As one thing gets done, it makes all the other things that still need doing really stand out. So the green new yard highlights the filthy deck. The clean painted walls point to the dirty, scuffed floors in distain. The new stove and microwave demanded a matching new dishwasher as well. And on it goes…

Today the new carpet was installed in the bed rooms. It REALLY looks nice. I’ve had a bit of a dread and reluctance about moving back into the house. Because of our situation I’m very hesitant to get attached to it again since its entirely possible that we’ll turn right around and move back out of it sometime in the next couple of months. Of course, it is also possible that we’ll be here another five years! It’s a very unsettling situation, but I am getting used to it. Really I think things will get more settled, one way or another in the next few months.

By some sort of crazy blessing from the sports gods we’ve managed to return to the US right in time for the NCAA College Basketball tournament, and this year Mizzou is doing quite well. Their coach is in his third season at Mizzou and this is the team’s first time in the tournament since 2003. We’ve made it to the Sweet 16 and although the last game gave me a headache from the stress I’m totally delighted. Every game we win from here on is just icing on the cake.

I’m having fun with running too. Austin is such a great town to run in, especially this time of year. I’m running in the Capital 10k this Sunday, just for fun. I’m not doing any serious training yet. Once Sarah and I pick a half marathon for late summer / early fall for sure I’ll get myself back on a definite schedule. But I AM starting to introduce myself to some speed and hill training techniques. Its fun - breaks up my weekday runs and makes them more interesting. I’m either running in the neighborhood close to our service apartment or heading to Town Lake on the weekends. There are so many beautiful jogging and hiking trails in this town.

Spring is really underway in Austin. The wildflowers and blooming trees are just starting to appear. They’ve had some rain in past week that has really helped the wildflowers. I’ve taken some pictures, but really want to take pictures of the bluebonnets when they are at their peak. I’m going to be like the Japanese – running out onto the median on The Capital of Texas Highway (the wildflowers bloom all over the highways here) and snapping pictures like a mad lady!

As for my mental state, well it’s funny. Most of the time I feel fine, but little things can set me off and bring either tears or laughter. Last weekend we went to the China Village shopping center for a bowl of Pho at a Vietnamese restaurant there. This shopping center is very Asian, with signs in Chinese and a grocery store that has everything a homesick Asian could possibly want, from red bean ice cream to durian! I got a lump in my throat at the signs in Chinese and could have wandered around the grocery store for hours just drinking in the sights and smells. I wanted to go up to the very few westerners we saw and ask them where they had lived overseas! Ha, what an assumption! But they were all wielding their chopsticks expertly, so I don’t think I was entirely out in left field.

Except for occasionally fearing that I’m about to turn into on-coming traffic, or puzzling shopkeepers by trying to hand them money or credit cards with two hands, I think I’m adjusting pretty well so far. I’m not expecting this to be an overnight affair, but I also don’t think I’ll suffer THAT much…there’s a part of me that misses everywhere I’ve ever lived, and everyone I’ve ever known. There’s a part of me that holds onto everything and hates to let go. I was always the last one at a party to leave the room…

Hello Austin!

We’ve been back in Austin now a little over a week but it doesn’t seem that long. I’ve forgotten how much work is involved in settling into a new place. It’s strange being back here, but not in a bad way. It feels both new and old. It really doesn’t seem like the same city I left three years ago, and I can’t really say why. I don’t think Austin has changed that much, but I HAVE. And that is the tritely profound thing that people tell you over and over about repatriation. But it seems to me that if I look at the changes that have taken place in my psyche and embrace and enjoy them they won’t be harmful to me or those around me. I don’t expect others to have changed in the same way, or even at all. I don’t expect that people will understand what I have experienced; how could they – they haven’t experienced it!

So it’s the little things about returning that have surprised me so far. I forgot how pretty Austin is. Hilly and green, even after the drought they had this winter. Austin is full of green spaces, places to hike and run, even in the middle of the city. Friendly people that talk to strangers (I’m a little un-nerved by this now, when just a few years ago I used to do the same thing!).

The other thing is I really don’t have time right now to be sad. There is so much work to do to get the house ready so that we can move into it when the time comes. Cleaning, painting, carpeting, landscaping…..I don’t see how we will accomplish it all but Lee keeps assuring me that all will be well.

I’ve also decided that I can’t keep saying that we are “living in Austin for now” or “we’re fixing up the house so that we can move into it or sell it”. There is no telling how long it will take for Lee to find another position in 3M or where that job will be when he finds it. So as much as it’s possible, I’m just going to quit thinking about it. We’re fixing the house up to move into it. We’ve moved to Austin. That’s it until it’s not anymore!

As far as this blog goes, well it seems a bit in disarray, even though I have a plan for it. Eventually I will get pictures posted and especially get the entries from our last Asian vacation up here. It may seem funny to start my Austin blog at the end of our journey through Asia, but it just seems right to me. Part of beginning a new journey is completing the old one, so I’m going to start the new with the old and employ a time-old literary tradition – the flashback!