Fork in the Road

When you are walking the Hike and Bike, there are choices like this one on the south shore.

Fence Line

This old wrought iron fence around one of the homes in the historic Bremond block looks great with a climbing plant blooming in our still hot and dry October!

Says it All.

Outside a local pharmacy. Enough said, I guess.

Google Maps Walks

Everyone has seen the Google Maps cars with cameras I think. Well, sometimes the images go all the way inside buildings. For that you need a guy toting a heavy rig like this. I didn't see this guy go inside any place, however.

Check for traffic!

There is a blind corner on a ramp near Shoal Creek on the pedestrian access area near our building. This mirror makes checking for speeding bikes or scooters a cinch. The building in the reflection is the new Independent Condos. (Tallest building in the city right at the moment.)

What up, Mr. Duck?

This guy had planted himself on a railing on one of the many bridges on the hike and bike trail. He didn't seem to want to move and I wondered if were ill. He is probably a Muscovy Duck, although I'm not an expert.

Ominous Sunrise

A couple of weeks ago the clouds and the appearance of the sun made an interesting view from our balcony.

Sweet street corn at ATX Cocina

We ate dinner at ATX Cocina the other night and loved this version of Mexican Street corn with a tasty aioli sauce. I could have made a meal off of this dish alone.

Messy, messy, messy

Our building is being repainted at great expense to all of us. Here you see the results. We are not happy. We are hoping that they will clean up these drips.

A helpful book

A longtime friend's stepdaughter wrote this book and he asked us to help get the word out about it. It's a self-help work about overcoming depression I read it and it is quite well written. For a teen suffering from depression, it would be relevant to take advice from another person in that age bracket.

Otto taco

TacoDeli has a new bricks and mortar location about six blocks from our home in downtown. We walked over there the other day and had some scrumptious tacos. This one has bacon and avocado. It's called Otto and it ougtha be a favorite for a lot of folks.

The crew gets fed!

Her is another shot of our dinner party at Vixen's Wedding the other night. What a fun time -- and the food was delicious.

Vixen's Wedding -- new restaurant

Here you see Linda with our friend Sergio. We had dinner at a new place called Vixen's Wedding on a recent Saturday. The food was delicious and we had a great time catching up with some friends.

Young authors deserve recognition.

I had the pleasure of handing out the Forrest Preece Young Author Awards the other day. Here I am with one of the winners. The event is sponsored by the Austin Public Library Foundation.

Crepes alive!

We love this smallish crepe cafe in downtown's hotel district. Yes, it's called Cafe Crepe. The one I had the other day is the Greek version with olives and feta cheese. So good.

Scoot over!

It never ends-- these scooters look so ugly, trashing out the landscape. And since these are on the lip of a driveway, these may get run over.

Now that's a chicken pot pie!

Here is one of the dishes we ate at the dinner party some friends threw the other night. Fresh out of Julia Child's cookbook.

Dinner party deluxe

Friends who live in a neighboring high rise invited us to their place for a Sunday evening repast recently. The food was amazing and the presentation at the table was very pretty.  Here you see the biscuits which were hand delivered by Fixe Southern House.

Another shot from the Banned Books Fest -- commentary on Toni Morrison.

Your worst nightmare

Having to take a college level test again --  what a wretched thought. This one was on display at the Ransom Center at The University of Texas.

Ban those books!

This dolled-up gent read a passage from Marlon Bundo at The Banned Books Bash the other night. It was a fun gathering and there were even tacos!

Grilling is needed

I never have seen the attraction of grilling meat, but a lot of people in Texas like the idea. Here you see two grills at Fifth & West with our place in the background.

Paul Anka sings

What a great two hour concert by Paul Anka. We heard it at the Paramount not long ago. The man is 78 and he didn't miss a step.

Great stories

Friends of ours wrote this fine book about their lives together. It was a delightful read -- and a short history of Austin as well.

Not good

A sure sign on a smash and grab -- glass in the gutter. Not fun for someone.

A relevant play, indeed.

Our friend David Jarrott had a great idea to start a theater company. This play was his latest -- it is all about college admissions, white privilege, the hierarchy of colleges, quotas, the works.

Up in the air

This biography about a friend of ours is terrific -- it recounts his rise from abject poverty to being  a top pilot in WWII to the CIA.

Say "Cheese"!

We had this tasty cheese plate at a local restaurant the other night. Nice accompaniments as well.

Lawbreakers

The law our city council says that children under 18 have to wear helmets and there can be no more than one person on a scooter. Yeah. Right. And when that kid gets thrown to the pavement, who will pick up the bill at the hospital? The taxpayers of Austin.

Migas with avocado

I had this dish at a local diner named Joann's the other day for breakfast. Really tasty. 

Theme day -- orange

This new eatery and bar in downtown Austin has a facade with orange colors worked into it. Always glad to see what our colleagues around the world post for their examples of the theme. Click here to see them.