Cabin in Estes Park

A camp counselor and teacher built this cabin. I'm not sure how much its a Abe Lincoln built or Thomas Jefferson built. Know what I mean? I think more Abe. He taught wood working and craft skills at a kids camp in the mountains nearby. This was home when he wasn't teaching or at the camp. That's a short time but its at the right time of year too. Summer time. You can tell the older sections from the new by sight. A bunch of space has been added over the decades and many beds. Theres two full bedrooms and bathrooms now, plus some bunk beds. My teacher friend Eddie who knows the family said people rent it out over the spring and summer. The first day I arrived there was a big party with dozens of folks. Some with their kids. Almost all people connected to the camp. Most of the beds were full that night. The guy who built it passed a few years ago and his presence sort of hung over the whole scene. Mostly though it felt like coming into a family reunion of folks I only just met. I didnt know them at all yet they made me feel at home. I know why Eddie goes back every year.

Colorado Summer Vacay

My old teacher friend Eddie invited me to the cabin he always stays in during the summer. You see the cabin and its neighborhood and the awesome mountain views I captured during a short walk my first day there. I think I've had so many thoughts and reflections on that trip that its hard to know where to start. And its fun relishing the memories and hanging on to them. Wake up to this for a number of days and you'll probably feel alright with the world. Also the view comes with the knowledge you don't have to work. I'm writing this in the beginning of a winter break right before Christmas. The feeling of freedom on a break like this is overwhelming. Possibilities seem endless and the fruitlessness and dejection of the working world washes away.

Filling in the spaces with houses

Biking around in south Austin you always see changes. These homes cropped up recently in a former field. I noticed the uniformity and lack of trees and lack of humans. Although thats regular in America these days. Pics on this blog show my neighborhood having some differences but they are almost as similar as these houses. But my neoghborhood has some character to it. You can see the lives that have been here and you can imagine decades and tons of people. Not yet here. Biking through this nook of Austin felt like residing in a refrigerator. I probably would have said an oven if it was July.

Palm Trees in the Neighborhood

This house must have looked a lot different decades ago. Who spends the money to put two palm trees in their front yard like pillars to the entrance of a opulent city from Egypt or Mesopotamia. Is this the liberal Austin version of putting up Greco-Roman columns in the front of your house like Southern plantation owners and my cousins in Wisconsin. No kidding. They would answer the phone with "White House".  My cousins were not rich by the way. It doesnt cost a lot to pay for those columns and it costs nothing to imitate racists. Ill post pics of them later. There's a palm tree next to UT in Austin and it always bugged me because it doesnt belong in this geography. So what, lots of stuff doesnt belong here right? Palm trees must have some resilience to survive because it actually looks better than the rest of the property which has gone to shreds.

Korean Catholic Church

Do you see that ugly concrete bullet sticking into the sky adjacent to the church? Thats a water structure. The government water system has kept me from drinking water for days on end due to a lack of sanitation or foul smell from rotting marine life in the pipes.  And another thing, does the water tower have to look like its from a post-apocalyptic dystopia? When I was young I heard adults tell me that communists had terrible buildings with no character. So when I see this I might wonder if  I am in a communist society. I guess the view of the church tells me I'm in the west. Who presents themselves better to the world in this view? The government or the church? I was cooking in the kitchen on Sunday and  I saw folks in my front door. I usually wave people away or ignore them. I intuited what later played out exactly. The church folks who occupy my back neighbor came by with a Xmas gift. When I opened the door the good Samaritans looked a little startled. The transfer of the gift and the words used to facilitate it seemed rushed and un-rehearsed. Take your time and plan it next time. But I still said my Merry Xmas. You know who loved this gift? Me? No, yo! My students who ate the 50 cookies in that gift box from the Korean Catholic Church in my backyard. Connect the dots. The Catholics are better neighbors than the city government.

The homes of old liberals in my neighborhood

My neighbors were elected officials in the Austin City Council decades ago and they were associated with liberals in Austin. You see the homes they own in these pics and the vehicles they drive. The cars that are covered have not seen the light of day in years. The uncovered car and truck have also not been driven in many months. Maybe years now. There is a Save Barton Springs bumper sticker on the the Ford Bronco. What an irony. Your'e living a lifestyle that defeats your proposed goal. Visually these peoples life is so tragic its a mirror reflection of the Austin left. Run down. 100 percent. The victories of these posers for the environment over corporate interests is pathetically low. And think about all the work that my neighbors actually did for others even if it was mostly in vain. They took on a challenge and then seemingly were left in the cold by their erstwhile liberal friends.