Odd, if not downright weird

Apologies for the lengthy blogging hiatus. I spent most of January entertaining—and being entertained by—my two lovely New England granddaughters, and just didn't have time for anything else.

One of the highlights of their stay was a week spent in Austin where they were able to play with their cousin. And while we were there we took lots of walks. Which, in Austin, always present lots of photo opps of interesting oddities, especially in a transitional neighborhood like the one where we stayed.

Many older houses in this area are being replaced by swanky (one assumes) and architecturally interesting duplexes like the one above.

But there is still plenty of old, quirky Austin around, too. Like houses with enormous rain barrels...

...guarded, it would seem, by watch-dinosaurs?

And since it wasn't long after Christmas when we visited, there were still some yard decorations up...

I so very much miss the Calvin and Hobbes comic when I see exhibits like this, don't you?

Of course, not every house is weird. Some are just cheerfully neat...

It hadn't been that long since my last stay in A-town, but our daughter's neighborhood is changing rapidly. Most of the changes are welcome, like all the eateries that are now within walking distance for them. 

Here's a sample of the fare at one of them, pretty much heaven on earth for a biscuit-lover such as myself...

Bird Bird Biscuit...an asset to any neighborhood

We spent some time downtown, too. I'm sure I've snapped this off-kilter skyscraper before, but thought I'd include a new view of it here. We call it the Jenga building...

...which I thought was an original moniker courtesy of our kids, until I read the link above. I also learned it's the tallest building in town.

One of the absolutely quirkiest things we saw, especially considering it was 75° when it was operational, was an ice skating rink on the roof of Whole Foods. Unfortunately I neglected to take a picture of it that day, but when we returned a couple of weeks later, I guess they'd given up on it...

My Maine visitors were pretty critical of the surface when people were skating on it, seeing as how there was essentially a puddle of water over the entire surface. I mean, they can skate on the pond near their house with much less fanfare and on better ice.

But wouldn't you know Austin had to try something this weird...

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to Everyone!

So many stockings!

(Two more than last year; Gramma has been busy)

Fabulous photos

Yes, I know this isn't a photograph, but isn't it spectacular?! 

This is just one of the many great pieces of art at our local Briscoe Western Art Museum. I've written about this place before; follow this link to see more of its treasures. 

But the reason we visited it this week was to see its exhibition of stereo photographs of old San Antonio. You can see some of the images (in mono) here. (Their photos were much better than any I could have taken.)

I love old pictures, especially of scenes that are at least somewhat familiar, and the addition of the stereoviewing made it that much more exciting. They have the exhibition set up very nicely, with plenty of binocular viewing glasses so that you can really enjoy the stereos. We were there on a free Tuesday night, and even so it wasn't too crowded and we never had to wait for any binoculars.

If you are near SA, I highly recommend going to see this exhibit, but don't wait! It's only up until January 21.

More color

Last week I treated you to some gorgeous natural color in our yard and our neighborhood. But the brilliant fall we're having extends much further afield. The picture above was taken at a friend's cabin near Leakey, almost two hours west of San Antonio.

Yes, this is the same place we came to about 6 weeks ago for a fun paddle on the Frio River. This trip I didn't go on the river (the flow was even higher than before, and I had more excitement than I really like on that excursion) but enjoyed the scenery all the same.

The weather was so bright and beautiful that day that even the past-their-prime brown leaves of some oaks near the cabin were eye-catching...

blue sky and shapely branches

brown is beautiful in full sun

Of course, the fact that I didn't want to paddle did not deter Henry. Plus, my friend and I not paddling simplified his shuttle. I got some nice snaps of Frio cypresses in full fall glory while waiting, and their brown looks pretty good, too...

Closer to home, I promised glimpses of some more of our neighborhood's fine trees. So here they are:

this red oak might have been mis-pruned at some time in its past,
but its color is glorious

this beauty is both shapely and colorful;
one of my favorites all year round

not sure if this is more cedar elm beauty, or something else...

...but I'm pretty sure this is...

...and this probably is, too; doesn't it look great against the white facade?

a couple of youngsters strutting their stuff

And it's not just leaves that are colorful. Just take a look at these abundant fruits!

Wherever you are, I hope your fall is/has been colorful!

Watch out, New England!

Thanks, I presume, to a couple of unseasonably early cold snaps, we have fabulous fall color these days around here. Honestly, probably not to rival NE too closely, but, for here, it's astounding! [Full disclosure: I did just have cataract surgery, so it's possible that the colors on view the last couple of falls were muted by the slow clouding of my old, natural lenses. The new cyborg ones are pretty sweet!]

The photo above was taken on our street, and the gloriously golden trees on the right are our very own cedar elms. Aren't they impressive?! They always look pretty nice in the fall, but this year, like many other trees in the hood, they've outdone themselves.

Here's a closer look at one...

...and as you can see, their brilliant gilding blends very nicely with some of my neighbors' reds, not to mention the greens of the guys that don't dress up for fall...

What's even more wondrous, last night we had a little rain and wind. So this morning there's a veritable yellow brick road up our front sidewalk...

...and on up the steps of our porch...

But wait! There's more! [flash to cheesy infomercial announcer voice  ]. I know I've written about our neighbor's ornamental pear tree before (history and pix can be found here, along with some other fall color snaps). But nothing prepared me for the brilliant carpet I found on our driveway this morning...

I don't think these leaves have ever been so vibrant! (removal of cataracts notwithstanding)

I think my little camera did a pretty good job of capturing this riot of color, but, believe me, there's nothing like standing in the middle of it. I just couldn't quit snapping the shutter...

our back steps

a closeup look at some of the pixels...
doesn't it look like a trendy drink decoration?!

Next time I'll venture further afield and show you some of the color around the neighborhood and countryside.

Wordless Wednesday: Not true! (in Texas, anyway)

Wordless Wednesday: neither snow nor rain...