Again, an empty nest

Globe-trotting son and daughter-in-law have gone off trotting again, although just for a while this time. They leave tomorrow from Houston for 2 weeks + in Spain.

Leaving our guest room lonely, our house quiet, and our dishwasher back on a 2 times per week running schedule.

We've really enjoyed having them with us for the last couple of months, but are happy (for them) that they'll be moving into their own house soon after their return from sunny España.

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One of the many neat things we got to do with them while they were here was go out to meet them while they were "on assignment." Earlier this month Hal got a couple of free nights at a newly opened local resort. We went out to see the place for ourselves (paying for our own beverages—like the ethical people we are—at this amazing bar, on the right, where we watched a Spurs game) one evening and were pretty impressed just with the scale of the thing.

I didn't get around to blogging about the outing, but since Hal just published his story on the resort, I thought I could give him a plug with a post now. It raises some interesting issues about the nature of green development.

Politics aside, it is a rather stupendous structure, and everything seems to be first class...and super-Texas-sized, like the lobby fireplace on the left.

It was an interesting night out for us old folks, who usually watch our sporting events curled up on the couch.

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Keep tabs on their blogs in the weeks to come for news of their junket to several Spanish (and one Moroccan) city.

Blossoms and petals

The wisteria vine next to the little bridge that connects the Library with the University Center is really busting out with blooms, more than I remember in years past. Perhaps it's just maturing [and we do bloom more profusely as we mature, don't we?] but it might be because of our unusually wet winter. If that's the case, I can look forward to some really good wildflowers, if and when I can get out of town for a few hours.


I've had a busy week, finishing up my London/Europe photo website, and have that as an excuse for forgetting to post my Wordless Wednesday photo this week.

But since it sort of fits with the flower photo above, I'll show it to you now. And be allowed to tell you what it is. It's our driveway, decorated with petals from my neighbor's ornamental pear tree's blossoms.

The tagline I'd planned to use for Wordless Wednesday was "Who got married here"?


I have to work tomorrow but will see if I can find some bluebonnets in the next few days to snap.

Cool for a day

Coolness is not one of my major attributes. I have even, on occasion, been forbidden by my children to use the word.

But, as the saying goes, even a blind pig, etc., etc., etc.

So, for one day last week I was personally at hip-cool central, Austin, Texas, during SXSW! Wooo! Not bad for someone who, just a year or so ago, didn't know what SXSW stood for. [Although I have a ways to go to reach the coolness level of the gentleman who accidentally got into my shot on the left.]

Historically, it was a week of music events in Austin, self-proclaimed live music capital of the world. It's evolved over the years into much more, with all kinds of tech events and game and device unveilings, and, what I went for, movies, too.

As you can tell from the picture below, taken during a 6th Street stroll between films, we had beautiful weather on Thursday. That, coupled with the congenial company of my young 'uns (who aren't as censorious about my vocabulary these days), made for a delightful day in A-town.

We saw a couple of interesting movies (one documentary, one feature), ate some yummy Tex-Mex at Jaime's Spanish Village, had our eardrums rung at The Jackalope (where I found a new beer to like), got some visiting and game-playing in, and—the somewhat un-cool high point for me—got to visit the house soon-to-be-owned by globetrotting son and daughter-in-law.

Of course, there was also some high-level people watching, too, in conjunction with that 6th Street stroll in particular. The street was closed to vehicles (except, as it appeared, for a fleet of beer trucks, which were needed to keep the suds flowing) so it was probably even more of a magnet for...shall we say...eccentric folks having a high time flaunting their eccentricities. Not to mention almost wall-to-wall street musicians like the ones on the right.

What's really weird about Austin, though, is that all this eccentricity happens in a city that's headquarters for one of the most embarrassingly conservative state governments in the country. Having to park quite a ways from 6th street necessitated a walk through the capitol grounds, which was quite pleasant, as long as you make an effort not to remember what goes on inside our handsome capitol buildings.

But I suppose it's a lesson in the dangers of generalization when you realize that the craziness of SXSW is just a few blocks from here.

I'm already looking forward to next year's festival, when, with more lodging options available, I'll be able to enjoy more than just one day of this coolness extravaganza. And maybe take in some uncool tourist attractions like museums and parks, too, while I'm there. Since it really is a multi-attraction city.

Wordless Wednesday: fantasy house

Maiden voyage, 2010

It was finally warm enough for intelligent people wimps like me to paddle this weekend. Henry and his hard-core friends have been going all winter, reveling in the rejuvenated river levels that resulted from our recent rains. The Guadalupe below Canyon Dam was running at over 500 cfs Saturday, higher than I've ever experienced it, and it made for a fun ride.

This stretch has some really scenic cliffs and I had to pull over and take some photos. I didn't take too many pictures while canoeing, since the swift flow of the current didn't allow for much resting and taking the camera out of the dry bag. But fortunately there was a still patch in the shade below these fabulous limestone cliffs, so I could stop and snap:


The water was still pretty cold, but since I was given some great cold weather paddling gear for my birthday (by spouse tired of my complaining that I couldn't paddle in the cold due to lack of proper clothing) I was toasty all along the way. It helped that the sun was warm and there wasn't much wind.

Another special treat was that our globe-trotting (and soon to be home-owning!) son and daughter-in-law went with us. In spite of their paltry kayaking experience they handled the big water like pros.

On the left here Hal is letting some water out of his boat at our lunch stop while Carey supervises. He took the warm day a bit too far and even went swimming—voluntarily—at lunch. He admitted it was rather a shock to his system to hit the water!

This scene, below, is where we headed right after lunch. At lower water, this right-hand channel around a large island is impassable. But even now, the left channel (out of the range of this picture) is still the easy way, and it's the one most of us took. A few of our more experienced compatriots headed down here, though, and managed to avoid that house-sized boulder at the end.
All in all a very pleasant afternoon. The first of many, no doubt, this year. Although the second will probably have to wait a while. The forecast for the upcoming weekend is colder than I want to try, even with all my new duds.

NOTE: Henry has an extensive blog post about this paddle, with a link to an even more extensive set of pictures on Flickr.

Wordless Wednesday: flickering elegance

Something old, something(s) new

It's been a while since I've worked a puzzle, so a few days ago I decided to bring out an old favorite. I don't know how many times I've worked this one, and it always makes me want to read Lord of the Rings again.
The picture is an amalgam of the cover art for my first editions of the trilogy, published in 1965, so in addition to being a rather neat (if not exactly authentic—see the comments about it here, under the heading "Ballantine edition") it has a personal nostalgic appeal.

(Note: the small illustrations throughout this post are other examples of Tolkien cover art from the wonderfully-named comprehensive reference site, theonering.com. However, it's not totally comprehensive, since it didn't include Remington's covers in the cover art gallery.)

What's wonderful about LOTR, however, is that there is always new stuff you can discover about it, and with the assistance of technologies Professor Tolkien never imagined. Several months ago a colleague introduced me to the Tolkien Professor website. What a wonderful treasure trove of stimulating, high-level Tolkien geekiness!

I mean, he had me when I first saw the following invitation on the index page: "Click, friend, and enter." [Tolkien nerds will get the coolness of this.] And when I read his first lectures, about the Hobbit....it brought back memories of my best English professors. Really, really interesting, deep readings of the text, eloquently expressed, knowledgeable and erudite, yet totally accessible. The only problem is that Professor Olsen doesn't produce these gems fast enough! Too bad he has to earn a living doing other things like academic publishing and teaching classes in medieval literature.

Thank goodness, he's come up with a way to at least partially satisfy his [I would think] legions of internet fans. This semester, he's also teaching a course in Tolkien this semester and is podcasting his lectures! Not as detailed as the primary lectures, they're still very much worth hearing and, best yet, they cover EVERYTHING Tolkien from The Silmarillion to Leaf by Niggle.

To continue with the old wine in new bottles theme, in anticipation of a drive to Houston last week, I wondered if I could somehow capture a few of these podcasts in a format that would allow me to listen to them while I drove, not owning any kind of advanced audio player. I realize—now—that this little miracle of technology is a trivial matter. My son and daughter-in-law tried not to find my ignorance too laughable and showed me how to put the downloaded files onto CDs for the trip. Ahhh! What an enjoyable drive I had!

And I even forgot, while at work this afternoon, that there was a perfectly good baseball game (spring training, but, still, a baseball game) I could have listened to while doing some work at my desk. I was much too excited about hearing the next Silmarillion class.

I have a feeling I'll be re-reading some Tolkien again really soon.