The big blowoff

I've pretty much abandoned this blog for the last 6 months. It was certainly not for lack of subject matter. I suppose I've spent most of my time writing, sharing info and arguing with folks on the Austin city-data forum. Good stuff really. But ultimately it's not the same sort of focused essay writing that I feel I need to be doing, so I'll be paying this old gal a bit more attention in the future.

So if anyone ever looks at this blog anymore, rest assured it will start earning its place again.

More familiar faces

Since our friend's visit in early February, we have had two more wonderful visits. Firstly, my folks stayed in Austin for 3 nights on their circuitous return to Ohio from Florida, via Texas and then my friend Dave stayed for 5 nights while attending the SXSW Interactive Festival. While I was hoping - through repetition - to get progressively callused to the awkward moment of farewell, I still found myself feeling wistful and a quite sad after seeing these folks off. But I've also noticed that the time spent with these people during rare visits is much more meaningful now that our time together is limited. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder", is indeed a truism.

There's no place like the feeling of Home

This past week, we had our first extended visit as new Austinites. My long-time buddy Fred, his wife Tamara and her sister Amanda(who are also our friends), came out for a five day, five night Lone Star Texaganza. Lots of drinking, eating, laughing, hanging, hiking, hugging and general good times were had by all. Since we've been here about 5 months, spending some quality time with familiar faces was really warming. There's something about the known and comfortable that cannot be matched and we have such great rapport with these folks, it felt as if we never left Cleveland.

But of course we did, and when they left we felt that nauseous pang for home which until then had been lurking just behind the sheer curtain of busy, ordinary life that seems to hide what's really going on in people's lives. We had gotten used to having them around and will have to readjust to the reality of 1400 miles. But it's not all sad, depressing and morose. We had a wonderful time showing them our new town and feel much more at home now, having had to be tour guides. We both feel a deeper affection for Austin now that we've had the opportunity to see it through our friend's eyes. Places look slightly different, now that we've had some variation of experiences with old friends. The Austin Motel, The Continental Club, Jo's, Doc's, The Broken Spoke, Momo's, The Velveeta Room: these places and localities now have a new quality they did not previously bear.

The next couple of months have us hosting my parents, my friend Dave and my wife's two long-time friends. Can't wait!

In the spirit of Fun, here's a couple of poser "band" photos that we took while hiking in the Hill Country...:)