Gem of the Mountain West

This little bar in Trinidad is in an area made up of old brick buildings with some alive with shops and restaurants and others abandoned or filled with 420 stores. Got lucky to hear local singers at Las Animas Grill. I love the small town feel coming from Austin. I think the 420 culture creates an inviting and welcoming culture in Trinidad. Maybe folks were chill before. On my second time through I met a guy who said he was helping his daughter get to college. He attracted a woman who said she was from Austin where she was a dancer but now is a bud tender in Trinidad. My brother tells me when I wish for a different life I should consider the old saying that the grass is always greener on the other side. Maybe.

Dead deer on the side of the road

When I bike around Austin I see plenty of dead animals and creatures. Some on he road, some off. Usually they disappear. Does someone dispose of them? Do other animals and microbes consume them? In this instance it took many weeks for the dead dear to go away. First it was just dead. Then it rotted away and gave that stench of death. In that period I swear I could sense someone tried to cover up the stink of death with a lemon scent. That went away and then back to death. Then the scent went away as the carcass appeared desiccated. Still the outer remains laid in the grass for many more days. Finally I called the authorities. It took no less than three phone calls and an app notice before it was finally taken away. Seeing a dead deer on the side of the rode day after day for weeks. And then about a month afterwards a new dead dear appeared. about 100 feet south of this one.

Disc Golf Discs Appear on Streets in South Austin

This is the second time in about ten years that I've seen and recovered a disc from the streets of South Austin. I have pictured in my head how they ended up there. Perhaps someone left it on the roof and it flew off. Or they were  back biking back home and it fell out of there backpack. My favorite idea is that young people are chucking them out of their car and seeing how they fly and how fast and how its different from throwing on your legs. Its a new sport in the works.

Wrecked Homes and Neighbors

I saw this house on a bike ride around my neighborhood taking pics of old and new places. I was too scared to stop on my bike so I came back in the car. No gun, I just needed a quick get away if  someone came after me. You can see the glare from the window as you gaze into the broken glass and imagine the poor souls inside. When I biked by a woman was outside sitting on an upturned plastic pail smoking a cigarrette. Situations like this remind me of the good Samaritan parable. I always have resisted the literal interpretation of the story. It's not a good idea to stop and help everyone in need and there are better ways to be generous. But rethinking this situation gave me new insight into the parable. It pushes you to the limit of generosity and makes you think about where you are. Christians believe you should act like Jesus. But when you imitate him being provocative and him challenging self-righteous religious types it usually doesn't go well. Plenty of Christians also follow that lead and many have big hearts. Atheists often think religious people are delusional but I'd rather have religious people who care about families like the ones in this house than non-religious people who say they care but do almost nothing about it.

Old Brick Houses In Johnson City

The old Tree Streets neighborhood in Johnson City is full of architecture that imitates classical Greece and Rome. You can see the columns and porticoes in many houses, especially the more affluent. Some houses in the neighborhood go back to the 1800s. I think that the preponderance of the red brick is somewhat regional. The last three pics are of the oldest home in the neighborhood. It looks like its been neglected. These big houses remind me of the coop houses I knew from Madison and Austin. I like a place where many people reside but you had your own private space. And you got to interact with other folks in the common spaces. Its not for me anymore but I think families or other groups should be coop housing more. And we would retain the old good houses more and spend less on housing costs if we did.

Revitalization in Johnson City Downtown

Old spaces getting remade to modern businesses in older sections of Johnson City, Tennessee. I love this city and its changes over the years. Run Down meeting the modern again and again. The Southern Craft restaurant and brewery has great food and beer. The barbecued meat is as good as I've eaten anywhere in Texas. America is a consumer based economy. A lot of what people buy helps businesses that reproduce an unsustainable economy. Unsustainable economically, ecologically, and culturally. I often think I fall into that destructive pattern when I eat too much meat, especially smoked bbq. We all have our preferences. I buy few new clothes but lots of folks love picking out the latest fashions. If we want people to have the freedom to purchase what they want and keep it sustainable we need to have renewable energy sources. Until then I'm going to pick choose bbq over things like a new car or new clothes. Well maybe a new shirt or two.

Local farmers trying to make a more sustainable economy and setting up shop in a real rundown section of Johnson City. I hope this lasts.

The Ball Park in Johnson City

First you see some public housing out of the last century. Small home feel with open spaces and there's a big public pool right down the road. Better than the big complexes in Cabrini Green style but I don't think collecting a bunch of poor people together in any style is good public policy. Its not good for the people living in that area. It's not good to have schools fed by large numbers of poor kids. And the adjacent properties you see in later pics do not make for a good location for anybody. Imagine that being across the street all the time. I post these images of America because I see the beauty in these scenes. But I bet the kids who grow up there don't see it that way. At least they have the baseball games next door that they can go to. But they're probably not spending a lot of money and time there.