5:00 a.m.
It’s 5:00 a.m. and I can’t sleep. I keep packing boxes in my head and making to do lists. I dropped my two year old with chicken pox at my mother’s yesterday and I keep worrying about her too. We are moving to Houston in about 27 hours. I am going to really miss Austin. The top ten things I love about Austin are:
- The hills. I grew up in West Texas and always wanted to live in a place with some variance in elevation.
- The trees. Houston has trees too but they’re different and can be somewhat overwhelming. I like wide open spaces too.
- The vistas. This is becoming less of a draw as cookie cutter McMansions are cluttering the view.
- The trails. They combine my top three favorite things.
- Swimming holes. There is just something about swimming in cold spring fed water that revives the spirit.
- Men in spandex. Just kidding. I don’t know of any other city where so many men feel comfortable going about in stretchy pants.
- Weirdos. Austin has more than their fair share but since Houston’s bigger, there’s probably actually more there.
- KUT Radio. The best NPR station ever.
- Music. Music. Music. Need I say more?
- The cool casual country culture. Austin has the coolness factor that most other cities in the country lack. It’s casual. It’s still country, though that aspect is slowly being eroded away by the influx of foreigners from other states, especially California.