Sally Fourth

Hello, thanks for stopping in yet again for the life and times of Steven and his, quite often, wunder-fraulein, Lauren.

The Fourth saw me get up early to make 9 o’clock ( - 40 (+11 5)) yoga class. Afterwards I got some Fourth of July gas when it struck me that no fourth of july is a Fourth of July without Bar-B-Q (to say nothing of being components in two Robert Earl Keen songs).

I headed home and the lady and I headed over to Rudy’s for some lean brisket on whitebread with gallons of iced tea. Rudy’s is so fine, and I do mean so fine.

While we were getting ready to go Lauren mentioned going kayaking on town lake and that sounded like a capital (ho ho ho!) idea. After Rudy’s we wound through Westlake (the more direct route via Barton Springs Road was in closedown preparations in advance of the Austin Symphony extravaganza) to Austin Rowing Dock. The day was rather cool owing to a rainstorm that had passed early in the morning so it was a fine time for heading out.

I had never kayaked before, but it was really good exercise and quite a bit of wet fun. We headed through Town Lake on towards Longhorn Island when suddenly we found ourselves being flanked by one of those energetic Texas thunderclouds. Moments later we were being poured on.

We made the best of it and made for some shore-side cover and tried to get slightly less drenched. As things let up we head back closer to the dock only to encounter another storm. I espied a small dock on the side under which we found shelter.

Moments later the rain let up again and we paddled back to the dock. Slightly waterlogged, we left the boat and drove home. After a shower and a snack we started walking down to Zilker park for the evening’s symphony / fireworks show. We wisely left with our umbrellas in tow; chastened by our morning’s earlier experience we had become.

It took about 30 minutes to walk to the field where we sat and listened to the warm-up music and watched people toss balls about, banter, play cards, and relax. As the show got underway droplets started to fall.

….purple lightning seared the sky

…droplets became more regular

…thunder became more regular

The MCs told us that the event would go off rain or shine and that the rain wouldn’t last long as it passed over. As conditions worsened Lauren decided to scrub. Her hiker’s aversion for ‘open field, lighning, and me’ kicked in and we decided to demonstrate that contrary to the human animals instinct for gregariousness, we are smart enough to get out of the rain.

Umbrellas a-hike we headed soggily up the Barton Spring’s exit adjacent to MoPac back to our apartment.

Back home, a warm shower and a cup of tea set things aright and we went to bed.