austin weather

taco cabana
Originally uploaded by Mantooth

Well, it's back to mostly normal--nineties, and the rains have (temporarily?) stopped. We had a chance to use the backyard pool and to play outside. But the rains have made this city BUGGY like I've never seen it. The boy has mosquito bites all over his face and legs; he seems to have inherited his father's irresistibility. We have, I'm pleased to report, been able to get some good Mexican food (even Taco Cabana seems very authentic anymore, and boy were we pleased when we had dinner at one of those in Norman, OK just before crossing into Texas), barbecue (good old Artz Rib House, and a trip to either Lockhart or Taylor this weekend), and of course Southern food at Threadgill's. I feel like a tourist, but what the hell. Austin is clearly still booming and it continues to sprawl, apparently uncontrollably. They've been accomplishing some "infill" in places like the Guadalupe-Lamar corridor between 38th and Koenig, but it's mostly ugly condos. If the oilman used to rule this state, it's definitely now the real-estate developer. (Appropriate that I'm "reading," or actually listening to, Jane Smiley's GOOD FAITH, a book about real-estate developers and S&Ls in the 1980s.)

Off to see the Gourds tonight, for which I'm mightily excited.