Getting Back in the Groove

Now to clarify: hippie-dippie land is Austin, TX. I don't know what it is about the conjunction of government and academia, but it makes an otherwise prosperous and sensible place completely insane. Austin might be better than Madison, Wisconsin because the Texas legislature holds sessions only once every two years for, I think, four months. Most of the time the bow is unstrung.

The city has its positive aspects. It is not hard to get around. They have a Chuy's up on the north side so I don't have to go all the way downtown for my dose of "velvet Elvis". A lot of tech companies are there. The economy and the real estate market have remained solid. I remarked about one of my co-workers having a band, and someone said, "In Austin, everybody has a band." Live music is big. I didn't have time or opportunity to check any venues this time. On prior trips, there were still numerous SRV imitators roaming the Sixth Street scene. My colleague is a guitarist, but he sounds more like Santana than Stevie Ray.

Sadly, my schedule was too restricted to do anything other than wave in the general direction of Temple.

The weather was interesting. They are in the midst of a long drought and are on track to break the record for 100-plus degree days. The old record was 69 days. I think they will hit 70 days tomorrow. It was hot. Dry heat, right? When it's 105, it's hot. While they were making a big deal about the string of days over 100, the fact is that the average high in Austin in late July and early August is 98 degrees, so it doesn't take much variance to be into triple digits.

It is sad to see all the dry weather damage in parts of Oklahoma and north-central and central Texas. The Texas live oaks seem to be holding up pretty well and I don't think you can kill mesquite with Agent Orange, but many of the trees on the ridges in parts of eastern Oklahoma are already dried up and brown.

My nephew was kind enough to board our dog for a week. The cats still had plenty of food when I got back, and, though they seemed annoyed at being left on their own, we soon made up and everybody was happy. It was no vacation, but it was good to see some of my friends in person again. Nevertheless, it is always better to be home.