On this Austin trip, Danny took me to a few more of his favourite places around the city. It was my third time there, but, partially due to the fact that the city is mainly navigable via car, my bearings are still a bit off much of the time. In New York, the constant watching of subway maps, and noticing of street signs keeps me pretty aware. The past few days my head seems to have been off in the clouds somewhere, but I'm generally pretty observant.
Once upon a time I was not that way. I was a very avid reader, and car rides were the perfect time to catch up on my current novel of choice. And I read hefty novels. I got into classic literature by the time I was about ten, ushered in by A Tale of Two Cities, which remains one of my favourite stories (though no longer favourite books per se) to this day.
Thus, instead of looking out the car window, I was looking at the words of Dickens, Austen, Shakespeare, and de Maupassant, to name a few. Once I started driving, at sixteen, my sense of direction in a car got infinitely better because I would have ended up lost, stranded in the woods somewhere, and probably in a tangled up crash with a bunch of deer otherwise. However, I still lose my way when I ride in cars.
Once upon a time I was not that way. I was a very avid reader, and car rides were the perfect time to catch up on my current novel of choice. And I read hefty novels. I got into classic literature by the time I was about ten, ushered in by A Tale of Two Cities, which remains one of my favourite stories (though no longer favourite books per se) to this day.
Thus, instead of looking out the car window, I was looking at the words of Dickens, Austen, Shakespeare, and de Maupassant, to name a few. Once I started driving, at sixteen, my sense of direction in a car got infinitely better because I would have ended up lost, stranded in the woods somewhere, and probably in a tangled up crash with a bunch of deer otherwise. However, I still lose my way when I ride in cars.
Austin=cars.
Me=lost.
I'm getting better at it, and I'm sure that the next time we visit, I will champion their Texan makes-no-sense lack of grid and insane highway system with my New York-via-Pennsylvania sense of walking justice. Maybe. Okay, so I'm not sure, but it might happen.
ANYWAY. Danny took me some places that I still hadn't been, in North Austin. I couldn't tell you where this place was other than "north of Danny's dad's house". But, it was, in fact, north of Danny's dad's house. There was a park with a pond, and once upon a time in his puppy years, Danny loved to hang out and play games there in a nook in the woods.
He called it "Duck Pond," though I'm unsure as to whether that was the locale's official name. The reason for the name was clear. There were ducks everywhere, including species I had never seen before.
Some of them were a bit terrifying, really. Tufty, angry ducks that looked like a cross between a turkey and a chicken and a duck. Turduckens. But, the view was lovely, the park was pretty, the cliffs were rocks, and we had a great time.
Even though I was essentially lost, unsure of my location in the universe, and surrounded by creepy looking fowl, I was at peace.
He called it "Duck Pond," though I'm unsure as to whether that was the locale's official name. The reason for the name was clear. There were ducks everywhere, including species I had never seen before.
Some of them were a bit terrifying, really. Tufty, angry ducks that looked like a cross between a turkey and a chicken and a duck. Turduckens. But, the view was lovely, the park was pretty, the cliffs were rocks, and we had a great time.
Even though I was essentially lost, unsure of my location in the universe, and surrounded by creepy looking fowl, I was at peace.
More photographs from this park are to follow in the next few days.
We got up to some shenanigans.
Austin, Texas, USA
