I’m still playing catch-up on my training for the Zooma half marathon. I am slowly building up both time and distance as the date moves closer. Tonight we ran through downtown Austin.
We started at the Treaty Oak on Baylor and ran down 6th street toward the interstate. At the interstate we looped around and started down 5th heading to our car. As we ran we wove our way through tourists, 5:00 o’clock workers heading home, valets parking cars, homeless people and early evening patrons heading into one of the many bars that pepper 6th street.
We discovered a sign for the best hamburger in Austin, one that said they had the best dumplings in Austin and discovered an entirely different town alive with entertainment.
We drive these roads every day, but everything changes when you’re on the ground at 5:00 PM on 6th street in Austin. We may not be setting any speed or distance records but we did have a lot of fun!
When I first gave up red meat, chicken, pork etc., there were very few options for fast food dining. Sometimes when you travel it feels like fast food is the only option and certainly the most convenient. Today most national chain restaurants and many small local diners offer multiple options for vegetarians, vegans or any other meal plan you may follow.
Veggie burgers aren’t my favorite meal, but when Burger King started serving veggie burgers a few years ago, BK went to the top of my list for grabbing a quick meal while traveling. Today, people who want more alternative menu choices have many more options. I can almost always find a salad, a fish option or a bean dish. At the Counter Custom Built Burgers in NYC, I had a wonderful custom made Ahi Tuna burger. Many restaurants have developed their own veggie burger recipes. Elevation Burger in Austin, TX has a vegetarian and a vegan option. Both are equally delicious and made from real vegetables.
Recently, in the Dallas, TX area I was trying to find a quick drive thru meal. We stopped at a Taco Cabana, but I was stuck on the phone. I waved my husband inside thinking I just wasn’t in the mood for beans and rice.
There was an In-N-Out next door to the Taco Cabana. We pulled up to the drive thru window, I asked, “Do you have a veggie burger?”
A cheery, “Yes we do!” floated through the speaker. “Awesome”, I thought and replied, “I’ll take the combo with a veggie burger. No cheese and no sauce.” As she repeated back, “A veggie burger with lettuce and tomato only?” I answered, “That’s correct.”
As I Anticipated some yummy salty French fries, I pulled up to the window. This was my first visit to an In-N-Out burger and so far it was looking good. Receiving my food from a smiling server, we pulled into a parking spot to “check” the order. Diving into the fries was a delicious treat; hot, crispy, fresh and salty. Unwrapping the burger, I quickly realized something wasn’t quite right.
There was definitely lettuce and tomato, but that was it. No patty, just bread, lettuce and tomato. My husband carried the burger back inside. When the server asked if I only wanted lettuce and tomato and I said yes, that’s what I got.
When he came back out carrying the burger , he confirmed, “Nope, this is the In-N-Out version of a veggie burger.” Laughing, I had a delicious lettuce and tomato sandwich. At least it didn’t have any soy. Kudos to In-N-Out on the most authentic veggie burger I’ve ever had.
Texas is in a drought as are many other states. When I first moved to Central Texas 12 years ago, it rained often. Someone once commented, a 20% chance of rain meant it would rain at least 20% of the afternoon. And it did rain most afternoons; a light pleasant shower.
Now when rain falls, we cheer. Rain in Austin often comes in heavy, concentrated downpours that are a deluge and cause flooding. But we welcome any rain with glee.
Last week, we had rain in Austin, Texas. Rain fell hard and fast and it was wonderful. I love the rain and smiled happily, as it poured.
Austin drivers are more courteous than I have experienced in other large cities. There is a sense of camaraderie rarely found in commuter traffic. But, drivers in Austin don’t just forget how to drive in the rain, they become ridiculous risk takers. I wonder if the rain is so miraculous that it makes them feel invincible.
Last week, we were driving to work, rain pounding, and visibility a quarter of a mile. The dry ponds along the highway were teeming with the brackish rain water. As we drove through an intersection in heavy commuter traffic, a small dark car entered the flow from the left. The car shot across four lanes to access the McDonalds parking lot on the far right. I hope the Egg McMuffin was worth jeopardizing themselves and dozens of other cars!
Remarkably, everyone survived and I heard no metal on metal screeching. Inching forward we moved toward the next traffic light which was green. Suddenly, the Super Shuttle van in front of us pumped the brakes and came to a full stop at the green light. Expecting the driver to look up and move forward, we waited unable to change lanes. We assumed he would wake soon. Nope! The light turned red while we were still waiting.
I could just imagine the driver, looking back at the passengers and calling, “Don’t make me come back there!” Followed by, “I’m not moving until you settle down!” The light changed back to green and the van made an illegal left turn from the center lane. “Ah,” I thought. “Missed his turn.”
As we move into 2015 I hope the drought comes to an end. Perhaps if it does, Austin drivers will remember that when it rains you should exercise caution.
Today will be my 44th post. I began posting weekly in May 2014 and have posted each week since. For those of you who joined me, thank you. I love to read your posts and spend time with you through your writings or photographs.
The past week has been a busy whirlwind of activities, some good and some not so much. I wasn’t able to write this week, so I searched my snippets to see if I might stumble across a ready made post. No luck.
I found a poem of sorts I had written for someone special and the last line was “Please remember each time you look at it, you are not traveling alone”. The line referred to a ring I had given as a gift.
The Culture Monk, a blog I follow, posted today about community. As I read the post I thought about that line. I realized community was exactly what I was describing.
My interpretation of community is an ever changing sea of people and environments. Since December 19th, I traveled from Austin, TX to New York City, NY; back to Austin and immediately on to Tulsa, OK. I returned to Austin for a few days before being called to Wichita Falls, TX where I spent the last week. Now I am back in Austin and am scheduled to be in San Antonio, TX this weekend.
What a profound community I have experienced! One thing I know for certain. I am not traveling alone. During my travels, I was entertained by people, moved by others and exchanged smiles with many.
I received hugs, handshakes and words of encouragement. So I offer to you to “Remember you are never traveling alone”. There is always someone nearby with a smile or a story.
I recently resurrected crocheting as a hobby. It’s been years since I created anything with yarn and a crochet needle. Crochet patterns and yarn have changed significantly. I practiced on some old yarn I found stored in my sewing supplies and contemplated what I should create.
When my daughter was scheduled for surgery on her broken ankle, I knew I would have some down time while I waited. I decided it was time to start a project. I intended to pass time during her surgery by crocheting. A great idea, but I didn’t get to the store before the surgery.
Because I would stay with my daughter in Tulsa while she recuperated, I picked up yarn the following evening. Although I had crochet needles at home, I picked up a new set along with a two skeins of yarn, (Yarn Bee, First Love, he’s the one) a beginner refresher book and a basket to hold the yarn. The baskets were half price so I couldn’t resist.
He’s the one!
I found a basic afghan pattern and realized I would need a lot more yarn. The yarn I purchased was variegated so I decided not to worry about the lot#.
I headed back to the original Hobby Lobby and discovered I had bought the last two skeins. I did find and purchase 4 small skeins of a nice cotton blend. After all they were on clearance. How could I resist? En route to the second Tulsa location of Hobby Lobby on East 71st, I spotted a Barnes and Nobles and decided I would duck in for just a minute. An hour later I realized I had no idea what time the second Hobby Lobby closed. I paid for my books and rushed off in search of ‘he’s the one’.
As we pulled into the parking lot of the Hobby Lobby on 71st, I could see people milling about as I hurried toward the entrance. No luck. A store employee waved me away and mouthed, “We are closed”.
I searched for the yarn online and discovered it appeared to be sold exclusively at Hobby Lobby. The yarn was out of stock for on-line purchasing. The next morning, I called the store on 71st and found out they were also out. Apparently, ‘he’s the one!’ was a big seller. And so began the quest for ‘he’s the one’. An internet search identified Hobby Lobby stores in two nearby towns. A phone call to Owasso confirmed they were out of the yarn but the Broken Arrow store had 4 skeins in stock.
My husband set off to Broken Arrow to pick the up the yarn. He returned triumphant with the four skeins. That was great but I still needed more yarn.
We would drive home through the Dallas area the next day, so my husband called the Dallas Hobby Lobby on Preston. As I was making lunch, I could hear him on the phone. “Yes, I need to see if you have a specific yarn.” (pause) “Yarn Bee, First Love, he’s the one!” He had to keep repeating, “First Love, he’s the one!” as he was disconnected twice and transferred between departments. I believe he just demonstrated, he is definitely the one! Finally he was told that yes they did have 5 skeins. The sales clerk said no they could not hold them until tomorrow and no he couldn’t purchase them over the phone.
Still searching for yarn, I made an afternoon trip to Tuesday Morning and found 4 skeins of cashmere yarn and 2 of a lovely wool blend on the clearance aisle. Of course I had to buy them!
When we left Tulsa, OK for Austin, TX, I used Google maps to locate a Hobby Lobby in Sherman, TX where we found 4 more skeins of ‘he’s the one!’ on the shelf. Score! Stopping by the clearance section, I found several more skeins of yarn which found their way into my cart.
Work In Progress
I now have 10 skeins of ‘he’s the one’, and about the same number of skeins of miscellaneous clearance yarn. Doing the math I realized I could use a few more of ‘he’s the one! We set off to find the Dallas store to determine if they had any of the five skeins left. Upon arriving, I rushed to the yarn department to grab all five skeins which were still on the shelf! I completed the quest! This will be a lovely and fun project!
Now I just have to buy a bigger basket for all the yarn and figure out a few more projects. Aren’t clearance sales wonderful?
Christmas 2014…. What a crazy and wonderful time we had. Previously I nicknamed 2014 as the year of the broken bones. I suffered through a broken toe and my husband Ron is sporting a trendy black cast while he recovers from a break in his wrist.
As we sprinted to the finish line to usher in 2015, I was a bit relieved to see 2014 come to an end. We are normally very healthy. We exercise and try to eat right so it is outside of the norm for us to have issues.
In December, we traveled to New York City for a bit of relaxation and rejuvenation before heading to Texas on Christmas Eve for our extended family Christmas celebration. We were scheduled to fly out of JFK on the 23rd. After a long busy day of activities on the 22nd, we received a text from my daughter which read “On my way to hospital, probably broken ankle, I’m okay.” Followed shortly by “Broken on both sides, trying to determine if they will transport to surgery tonight.”
Oh, boy! We were unable to change our flights due to the Christmas travel, so we headed to the airport to standby for any earlier flights. No earlier flights materialized. All things considered, the airport and subsequent travel went relatively smoothly. We flew into Austin, TX, arriving at 9:30 PM where we grabbed our bags, retrieved our car and set off for Tulsa, OK. We stopped about half way to Tulsa for the night. Early the next morning on Christmas Eve we set off again.
While we were trying to get home, my son and daughter had coordinated and moved our Christmas celebration to Tulsa. My son transported gifts, food and family and himself to Tulsa in support of his sister. On Christmas Eve the two of them were sitting in the orthopedic surgeon’s office having her ankle reset, surgery scheduled and making everyone laugh.
By the time I arrived, dinner was being prepared, the house had been spruced and gifts were under the tree. Everyone was smiling, my son-in-law’s parents were dropping by and one of his co-workers was on the way to share in the celebration.
As we gathered around the dinner table, we were all grateful to share a meal and celebrate being together. So while I may have been pre-emptive to declare this the year of the broken bone ended, this is it! No more broken bones allowed!
We had a wonderful new celebration of memories to add to our holiday traditions. Today Christmas is over and we are sitting sipping our coffee and watching the snow fall outside while we were warm and comfortable inside.
I participate in our local Farm to Work, a program of the Sustainable Food Center in Austin, TX. As defined on their website, Farm to Work is an employee wellness and Farm Direct marketing program that delivers farm-fresh, locally grown produce right to employees at partner worksites.
Every two weeks on Monday, we receive an email reminding us it’s time to order our produce. Last week, my email was delivered, but my reminder notification didn’t display. At 7:00 PM I was leaving the office for the day and remembered it was the week I needed to place my order.
Frantically searching I found my email and immediately realized I was too late. The stated deadline to order was 5:00 PM.
Not willing to give up quite so easily, I replied to the email with a message asking if it was too late to order and included the explanation of how I missed the deadline. I’m sure the order email is only monitored for payments and orders, so I received no response.
On Wednesday when the produce was delivered to our office building, I was feeling sad to have missed my vegetable delivery. My sweet friend Nena stopped by my office. She often has to remind me it’s time to pick up the order, so she asked me if I had picked up my vegetables. Of course I had to share the whole story of how and why I missed the deadline.
Smiling she said, “I’ll share. I have extra.” Responding that it was okay, I explained I was going out-of-town and it was probably better that I hadn’t placed my order.
“No”, she explained, “I really have extras. I was the last one to pick up and they gave me extra produce. I told them I would share.” Feeling blessed, I said, “Okay, I’ll take a bell pepper and maybe one zucchini.”
She sat her bag of vegetables on my desk and pulled out a zucchini and a pepper. But then asked, “Do you like potatoes?” When I replied yes, potatoes were added to my pile of veggies. At this point the pile was getting large enough to require a bag to carry it. As I searched for a bag, she added peaches, okra and a butternut squash.
I have to clarify. When Nena said she got extra veggies, she actually picked up a few extra pieces of produce but not more of everything.
At this point, I have as many vegetables as she does if not more. Honestly, it was like the biblical story of thee fishes and the loaves multiplying.
Although she did pick up a few extra vegetables, in truth she is really a dear friend who decided to share her vegetables with an absent-minded, forgetful friend who forgot to order timely. Good friends and vegetables what a lovely way to brighten a day.
Elgin Post Office Mural “Texas Farm” by Julius Woeltz Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson
Urban farming is making a resurgence and Austin, TX is no exception.Raising backyard chickens is popular in Austin and has been for quite some time. A few months ago, my neighbors took the plunge and started raising chickens for the eggs. We live in a rural area, just outside of Austin, and I’m sure chickens have roamed these acres many times in the past.
The adage of a rooster crowing to start the morning is a complete myth. Roosters crow all the time! They crow to establish their turf or to assert dominance. They even crow when a hen lays an egg.
My husband and I have grown accustomed to the noise and rarely notice it any longer. Our visitors are generally less prepared for around the clock crowing. Recently my son, who was visiting from out of town, commented about 10:00 PM, “That is going to drive me crazy!”
I had to smile, remembering the first weeks the rooster moved in next door. I thought I would never get used to hearing the noise.
I did get used to the noise. In fact when we drove to pick up breakfast tacos the next morning, at the local doughnut shop, it took a minute to realize I was hearing a rooster crow. As I waited in the car, a rooster strutted up to the door of the doughnut shop and serenaded everyone with his “Cock a Doodle Doo!” Continuing his rise and shine revelry, he made his way down the side walk pecking at the concrete.
Even in our community in the great state of Texas, that’s not a normal site. So now I know why the chicken crossed the road….. To get to the Doughnut shop!
Nana's Apron Strings 