Now that we've returned from our Austin trip, I have been trying to figure out how I can write about it to share the experience with everyone. I thought about writing a synopsis of what we saw and did every day, but that seemed too boring, too linear, and too un-Austin-ish. For me, Austin feels like a notable city because it is a place where unexpected moments feel a little bit magic. Or, at least, it is a place that enabled me to recognize the magic in these unexpected moments. So rather than trying to capture everything, I thought I'd try to write about those moments.
- On Thursday morning, we took a tour of the Capitol building, which was only a few blocks from our hotel room. I enjoyed learning about the building and was interested in the mini Texas history lesson we got from our tour guide. We looked up at the star inside the top of the dome, and I couldn't believe it was eight feet across. But it wasn't until later that evening, when we were walking back to the hotel just past sundown, that I looked up at the Capitol and thought, Wow. It was already illuminated, and you could just barely tell that it's a rose colored limestone rather than the white kind we're used to seeing in DC. The sky was a beautiful, darkening blue, and the trees that line the entrance already looked black. In that moment, it made sense to me why we build monuments and why we pay to keep them air conditioned and lit up at night.
- The tennis tournament got underway on Friday afternoon, and it began with an "opening ceremony" during which both teams were introduced. Waiting for the matches to begin made me reflect on how I never would have splurged to take this trip if it hadn't been for the missed trip to Australia. I'd like to say Billy and I will go to Australia some other time, because I know Dad would want us to, but I really can't see us doing it-- not when there are college tuition bills to pay down the road. So I stood there during the opening fanfare, trying to keep it together while thinking about my dad, about how sorry I am for all of us that we didn't get to take that Australia trip, and about how glad he would be that we were taking this one. Then they brought out Freddie Couples to do the coin toss. So far as I know, Freddie Couples has no link to Austin or the Davis Cup. But he does have a link to my childhood. I grew up watching him with my dad on TV, and we both liked that he never wears golf gloves. I can remember seeing him in person when my dad used to take me to PGA tournaments. So somehow, it both made perfect sense and made absolutely no sense to have him flip the coin. All I could think when I saw him take his seat (right on the aisle, in my section) is how fun it would have been to ask him for a picture so I could text it to Dad with just the caption, "Look who I found!"
- Austin markets itself as the "live music capital of the world," so although I have what must be the least refined musical tastes of anyone I know, I wanted to see a live show while we were there. A few weeks before we went, I was checking out different music venues when I discovered that Marc Broussard was playing at a blues club on the first night of our trip. I bought his CD in 2004 because I liked his single big hit, "Home," and because I really liked the rest of the CD, I have bought each of his CDs since. I've been trying to see him for a few years, but he always comes through DC and Baltimore on weeknights when I can't go. I couldn't believe that of all nights, and all the places on tour, I'd be able to see him in Austin. Billy and I were surprised to discover we enjoyed the Austin based opening band named Alpha Rev, but since the club had no chairs, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stand long enough to hear much of Marc Broussard's set. When he came out, though, he was so good, and I enjoyed the show so much, that for a while I completely forgot about being uncomfortable. I don't normally consider myself a concert-going type person, but I loved hearing him live. He had a group of Austin-based horn players join him during quite a few of the songs, and that made the songs I sing along with in my car sound even better. Billy and I also took advantage of the great opportunity for people watching, and we couldn't believe the wide variety of "types" of people who were all enjoying the same music. It felt like we were really getting to experience an authentic Austin moment, especially when Broussard thanked the audience and said that Austin is always the best show on the tour.- Austin's unofficial slogan is "Keep Austin Weird." From what I understand, the Keep Austin Weird movement began as one that tried to highlight the city's unique features, to support local businesses, and to fight what locals saw as the growing commercialization of their city. I've heard that the Keep Austin Weird movement has since been commercialized, but I still like the spirit of it. (So did Portlanders, who were either inspired to copy it or directly ripped it off, depending on how you see it.) Hands down, the weirdest thing I experienced in Austin was watching the Congress Avenue Bridge Bats. Over 1.5 million bats make their summer home beneath this bridge that spans Town Lake, and every evening they leave at the same time to go somewhere else to feed. First, we watched them from a park below the bridge. Thinking they were done, we walked up on the bridge to head to the hotel, but there were still a lot of people up there, and the sightseeing boats that give people a view from the lake were still sitting in the water. Plus, we could still hear the bats (and smell them!) beneath the bridge, so we waited too, and watched the second wave of the exodus from directly above. And this was, for lack of a better word, exceptionally weird. I stood there with Billy thinking, Well, chalk this up as a way I never anticipated spending my anniversary evening. But if sometimes the most memorable things are those you never expected to enjoy, this was definitely one of those moments. The bats are about the size of your thumb, and they are in a hurry, so my still photos don't really capture what seeing them is like. I did take this short video, though, which does a better job-- especially if you figure out how to view it full screen.
This post was getting quite long, so I've split it in two. Check back soon to read about the other memorable moments we experienced on our trip.
(The Land of Little Rain is a short story collection written by Mary Austin, so although its subject matter is the desert lands in California rather than Texas, I couldn't resist the title. And even if it's not about the same land of little rain as the one we visited, it is most certainly a text about place, and about the importance of place and landscape, so it still felt appropriate.)
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