Home is not where you live but where they understand you. ~Christian Morgenstern
Where thou art – that – is Home. ~Emily Dickinson
While I agree with both of these, it seems that one negates the other when I think about our current place of residence. The first is not entirely applicable as I am with my beautiful family here, but together as one, I think we can say together that Houston/Sugar Land is not very “us”, in style or interest. And while “home” will always be where the four of us are, our surroundings, the setting of our current adventure, is less than adventurous. It is safe, it is quaint, it is flat. It is the suburbs in every meaning of the word.
The suburbs in themselves are not bad and were created by our grandparents’ peers with the best of intentions. Hell, we moved here. Our motivation was, of course, our children in an attempt to provide them with a safe environment with a school of respectable standards. And that it is, so I hate to sound ungrateful or even unhappy with Sugar Land. They have done some great man-made things around here that beautify the area without being obnoxious:
So to give credit to our ‘hood and quit bitching about it, there are many pros to our place of dwelling. Nonetheless, however, we have concluded that our next home will be in a place that jives with our interests a bit more. Our interests primarily being the outdoors. Coming from Austin, we’ve realized how dependent/spoiled we were on the vast array of nature at our fingertips. We currently need to drive at least an hour to enjoy true recreational outdoor goodness (there is one place we frequent, but no swimming with the gators).
We definitely took Austin for granted in the 25 years we (me) lived there. Sometimes it takes being deprived of something to understand how much it means to you. In reflection of my hometown, an ode to Austin, the things I love[d] about the greatest place in Texas:
- The Greenbelt: wherever you are in Austin, the Greenbelt is 15 minutes or less away. Open to the public with at least 17 access points, the best of the hill country and Colorado tributaries can be experienced via foot, bike, dog or swim. This is possibly my favorite thing to do in Austin: take a hike with the Mrs., the dog and a six pack through a rocky path in the woods and stop to relax for a few hours by the rapids and swimming holes. I can think of nothing on God’s green Earth that I enjoy more.
- Water: There are numerous lakes/bodies of water to indulge the inner-water-baby. Town Lake, or the recently renamed “Lady Bird Lake”, is actually just the Colorado River but is treated as just a great place to swim, boat, kayak, camp, right in the middle of the city. Many good memories there. Like getting married at the 360 over-look. Lake Travis is my favorite, with loads of camping spots.
- The City: If you’ve been to Austin, you know what I’m talking about. Yes, there’s Sixth Street, but once you’re done with college or with bar-hopping, it only gets better. Any time of the day welcomes a great stroll through the blocks of coffee shops, restaurants, shops, record stores and interesting people. My favorite spots in the city include: the Warehouse District, SoCo, The Drag, the parks (Waterloo Park, Pease Park, Zilker Park, Adam’s Hemphill Park – this is where my marriage was ‘locked-in’), University of Texas and Red River District.
- The People: Yes, Austin is weird. Okay, we’ve heard that. But maybe, most other cities are weird. It’s an artistic town and artists are typically regarded by the mainstream as weird. There are those who are undoubtedly strange and the overpopulated homeless doesn’t help rid the stereotype. But what a better place to be homeless if that’s path you ‘choose’. What I do like about the people of Austin: they are artistic, they are polite (see the difference in traffic as seen in Dallas & Houston – blinkers work in Austin. People will let you through. Stoned or not, no one is in a hurry quite like those of other big Texas cities), they say hello on the street… in general there are more smiles. If that is weird, then yes, please keep it that way.
- The Music: Indeed it is the live music capital of the world, but going along with the people, music seems to be appreciated on a much different level than any other city I’ve visited. Not sure where to begin with the list of bands that came from/thrived in Austin: Spoon, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ghostland Observatory, Voxtrot, Sound Team, Bob Schneider, Permakids, Willie Nelson, Endochine, Haunting Oboe Music… the list goes on with those who have came and those still to come. And of course, with the television show and mega-festival, Austin City Limits has helped put the city on the musical map. If you like music, just start walking around and you’ll find something you like.
Austin, I miss thee. Thanks for being a great place to grow up. See you soon.
Sugar Land… yeah, thanks.
- Squash
squash@bolognaandsquash.com
