Winter comes to Austin

Winter showed up in Austin last night, well acutally it's been here all week but it just snowed last night. Not much I know but for us it's something rare to enjoy for a while. My mom had fun walking on the snow and making a snowball. The sun is out now and most of it is gone but that's winter in Austin.

Never know

Long time since I've posted...just nothing much to post. Still doing my walking routine but I've got the routes down pretty good so I know the distances without having to write them down. Haven't been doing them the last couple of days though. We were on our way to see our son and his wife this past Sunday who live in Kyle and while we were waiting to make a left turn of the I35 frontage road we were rear-ended by an off duty cop driving a big A.. pick-up truck. It was violent and upsetting and it totaled our car and did a number on us too. We're sore and cranky now with bumps and bruises and aches and pains, but thankful that we were able to walk away from it. The past few days has been spent dealing with insurance company crapola and getting another car and now working on the personal injury part of it. Again, thankful that we are ambulatory.

Anyway hope all of you people out there have a great holiday season and enjoy your families because you never know when you may not have them around.



Tropical Storm Hermine

We got lots and lots of rain over the past couple of days. 8-12 inches in our area depending on how close to downtown you live. While we loved the rain I can understand why some did not because it did do a lot of water damage and sadly some lost their belongings and in one sad case here in Austin one lady lost her life. One wonders why someone would risk their life by driving around warning signs and barricades but it's something that happens every time if floods. Below are a few pictures of some of the affected areas. I took the first two but the one of Barton Springs now and before the flood is from the web.

Hike and Bike Trail

Near 1st Street Bridge, water ran over the road.

 Barton Springs now

 How Barton Springs normally looks

Little critter and a lily

You can find the most interesting things on a walk here in Austin. I came across the little bird shown (you have to look close to see him/her) on the Hike and Bike Trail. I tried to shoo the little critter closer to the river because it had wondered close to Riverside Drive which is a long way from the river, at least for one so tiny. Alas I could not do it so I found a Park employee and later saw three of them gather around the place I last say the little bird and I hope they got it back where it was supposed to be. I think it was an egret or another water bird from the same family. The yellow lily photo was taken in the front yard. Guess lilies love the heat and humidity because they are looking beautiful.

Busy week coming up

We have a semi-busy week coming up for us. Frank has BCG treatment (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-Chemotherapy Drug) on Monday, an eye appointment on Tuesday and on Wednesday we'll be taking our son to have his knee operated on.
The picture is of a butterfly (I think because it's prettier than a moth) that emerged from a cocoon that had been attached to a leg of a table that sits out on the patio. There was one more cocoon but th tiny creature escaped its confined space when we were not around. Ain't nature grand?

Photos

Photos taken recently. Flower baskets are a story all thier own. Let's just say they had a hard journey getting here but they were worth it in the end. The purple daisies arrived 4 days late and a bit wilted, the carnation, daisy basket arrived fresh and are now on my dresser looking pretty. Thanks Pam! We were at our sons house over the weekend for a delicous dinner and he and Sandy made us feel very welcome. The photos of our son and my mom were taken at his house. Cyndi and Derick arrived later on Mother's Day after we got home dressed in outfits Derick had made for the kids he looks after at the Boys and Girls Club. They gave us quite a giggle. My walking is harder this week because not only has it turned quite warm but the humidity is high too. 73 temp and 87 humidity! Blech.

Roundup

Place Austin, TX


Name & City
 Bib No 4730
Age 65
Overall 595
Chip Time 58:18.38
Gun Time 1:01:19.00

That's me in the red visor. Didn't do as well as last year, about 2 minutes more this year which surprised me because I felt good except for a couple of blocks near the end. There were people older than me who had fantastic times and people younger than me who had crappy times so I guess I should be happy with what I did.  I'm thinking about taking the training classes for the CapMetro for next year but they don't start until October so I have lots of time to talk myself out of it. I do want to break the 50 minute mark so it's something to think about. The picture below is not at all flattering but the face I was making was near the two mile mark and I knew hills were coming up. Not my favorite things.