We arrived in Austin on Friday. We unpacked on Saturday. Our friends sold the house we are living in on Sunday. Yes, Drake and I can be called "The Lucky Charms". We are really so happy for them. That means it's time to find out exactly how mobile we are. We, of course, instantly went into search mode looking for a place to live that would give us basically a 2 month lease.
After much consideration (one day), and with the help of Jay's (the boyfriend) mother, Kit, a real estate agent who specializes in finding rental property, we quickly determined there waas really no place we either wanted to live in Austin or would rent us a place for such a short term. Drake and I took the bit in our teeth and decided to become Batrophanians. Yes, Bastrophians. We are moving to Bastrop, Texas. It's 30 miles from Sarah's house, and an interesting historic Texas town founded in 1832. Remember our 19th century pioneer woman from the last blog? Well, she was on her way to Bastrop. I don't know when they started to call themselves Bastrophians - but that's the name of the promotional tourist/new resident newspaper that we got. It's chock full of useful information in the format of a newspaper insert - like the TV guide pages in the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
Thank you Craigslist for finding me a nice apartment at a fantastic price. I was a little hesitant about going to Bastrop knowing that many small Texas towns are merely empty shells waiting to collapse. Bastrop is the exception. It's thriving, and full of fun places, and it's an affordable place to live. I was worried there wouldn't be any restaurants beyond the truck stop and the Mickey D's. Wrong. There are two dozen at least, several of which look really nice. We ate at one today - Baxter's. Drake had a Salmon Burger today - lightly friend fillet of Salmon on a really fresh onion roll with fresh cut french fries. He motored up every bite. The restaurant was located in a downtown building obviously built in the 19th century.
Where did I go in Bastrop once we found the apartment? I'll give you no guesses: I went to the library, of course, and was blown away by the excellence of it. It's new, all in white limestone, cutting edge technology, and a very large collection - 35,000 books - plus audio books, plus CD's, plus DVD's, plus a magazine reading room, plus computers, plus a reference librarian, a weekly book discussion group, and more that I didn't even discover yet. This is in a town of 7000 people. They also have a 5 plex brand new movie theater. They have a live theater company that performs in the Bastrop Opera House (again, shades of the 19th century - any town with snap built an opera house which would host the traveling companies of actors, opera singers, speakers, and finally vaudevillians.) There's even a play coming in April that I plan to get tickets to - they are the magnificent sum of $20 each. I'm sure it will be as good or better than the Artisan (the local theater company in Hurst).
For Drake there are two golf courses with green fees of $25 which includes the golf cart rental. There's hiking and biking right in town at the Bastrop State Park. Twenty miles further down the road is another state park - Buescher - which has a non-motor lake. I hope they have paddle boats.
Downtown is full of restaurants, bakeries, photographers, antique shops, a drug store, and lots of nuts and bolts establishments that a town needs. They also have the traditional downtown First United Methodist Church - I can hardly wait to attend.
I've very eager for this move. I'd like to unpack my entire trailer, and set everything up. I wonder how long it's going to take. I hope it's a 2 day process: Pack, load and the move, unpack. We really unpacked a fairly limited amout of stuff since the Wilson's left their house furnished as if it was a model home. According to the best real estate wisdom, to sell a house it should be neutrally furnished, so a perspective buyer can visualize himself/herself living in the space. My point is that being in this house has been very much like living at home with lots of furniture. It was a godsend because it let us focus on the finer points of trailering, and get comfortable towing the trailer, which the Lincoln did beautifully, but there has been a learning curve to hitching, unhitching, backing up, etc. All I can say is thank heaven for the Altus Fruit Market because Drake learned how to back up a big truck, and that knowledge has stood us in good stead. I digress - and what else is new?
I think this move to Bastrop will give us the kind of test we want. Did I take the right stuff? Did I take too much stuff. I can already tell you that the answer is 'yes'. I can lose at least 1/3rd of the kitchen stuff I took since I have officially retired from cooking. We are eating out in the middle of the day and the last meal of the day is do it yourself. I suspect I'm going to need fewer linens, but we'll see how 'no washer/dryer' goes. That's the only downside to the new apartment.
We aren't moving right away - we're here until the 17th of April. That's the 'move date' to become Bastrophians. I can already tell you that I'm really liking this whole process. I like looking at new scenery, eating at new restaurants, noticing new flowers and trees. I've enjoyed discovering new places. Frankly, Hurst was becoming quite stifling for me. It was like, 'been there, done that times 1000'. I will miss my relationships, but at least I can have them vicariously.
Since 'moving' is not going to be a big deal, we are planning our wildflower trip for next week. I can hardly wait to see the Willow Loop outside of Fredricksburg. The wildflowers are spectacular this year. I'm also going to Lady Bird's Wildflower Center while I'm here. We will also be celebrating our 39th wedding anniversary at Ronnie's Real Food. It's a guy who cooks at his house - he has 10 tables and a fixed menu. A real Austin insider restaurant.
This next move is going to be really fun and exciting - really our first test of our vagabonding. Oh, and thanks to Drake, we are not homeless; we live in Vagabondia (his made up word). I'm not sure where it is. I do know the location changes, and I'm pretty sure we live in the capital city.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saying Goodbye
Saying goodbye has been hard this week. Everyone has wanted to see us. Lots of friends seemed caught by surprise that we were actually leaving. I was one of those people. We have been planning this 'new life' for almost two years, and suddenly it was in the final stages and we were leaving a home and town that we had been part of for almost 20 years.
Drake and I have both been saying goodbye, but I have more people connections that he has and thus I've been saying goodbye over and over again. It started me thinking about when we say goodbye and how we say goodbye and what it means. It has quickly become apparent that 'goodbye' in the 21st century is much less final than it used to be. I'm in the Hill Country of Texas now, the birthplace of the state. In 1840 a woman who said 'goodbye' to her friends and family to come to the Hill Country actually meant: "The odd are I'll never see you again." Can you imagine, never actually seeing your family and friends once you said 'goodbye'? Our 19th century woman's future communication with that family and those friends was certainly spotty with little or no postal service. Yes, to a pioneer woman, 'goodbye' was pretty final. It's little wonder that railroads had the same impact in the 19th and early 20th century that computers have had today.
In most of the 20th century telephones eased those 'goodbyes'. Remember Ma Bell? For your younger readers, AT&T had a monopoly on all the telephone service in the entire country, and thus, controlled the price of long distance telephone calls. I can remember that the ONLY time you actually called anybody long distance was when someone was born or someone died. It eased a little bit as I got into young adulthood, but to talk 'long distance' was not something you did without prior planning. It was cheaper to talk after 7 pm or on the weekends. I knew some people who made lists of what they needed to say when they called so they could minimize their long distance minutes. My personal goal was to stay under $100 dollars a month in long distance charges. However, expensive or not, saying goodbye and moving away got easier because you could always call. When the AT&T monopoly was broken, I don't think anyone envisioned being able to talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime. The whole concept of 'long distance' just vanished almost overnight.
I'm not sure I could vagabond if I couldn't take my friends with me electronically. It's almost a touchstone among people who aren't using electronics that a virtual community is not real community. I think that's wrong, and this vagabonding exercise is going to prove it. I don't think my friends are going to stop reading these blogs. I don't think anyone will stop answering my phone calls or emails. No one has to become a name on a xmas card list that you heard from once a year.
Even so, it was hard to say goodbye. However, now that I'm actually physically gone - it's getting exciting! Time to say hello to this new lifestyle. I've been joking that we are now officially homeless, and one friend emailed back, "No, officially FREE. I think, perhaps, she's right.
Drake and I have both been saying goodbye, but I have more people connections that he has and thus I've been saying goodbye over and over again. It started me thinking about when we say goodbye and how we say goodbye and what it means. It has quickly become apparent that 'goodbye' in the 21st century is much less final than it used to be. I'm in the Hill Country of Texas now, the birthplace of the state. In 1840 a woman who said 'goodbye' to her friends and family to come to the Hill Country actually meant: "The odd are I'll never see you again." Can you imagine, never actually seeing your family and friends once you said 'goodbye'? Our 19th century woman's future communication with that family and those friends was certainly spotty with little or no postal service. Yes, to a pioneer woman, 'goodbye' was pretty final. It's little wonder that railroads had the same impact in the 19th and early 20th century that computers have had today.
In most of the 20th century telephones eased those 'goodbyes'. Remember Ma Bell? For your younger readers, AT&T had a monopoly on all the telephone service in the entire country, and thus, controlled the price of long distance telephone calls. I can remember that the ONLY time you actually called anybody long distance was when someone was born or someone died. It eased a little bit as I got into young adulthood, but to talk 'long distance' was not something you did without prior planning. It was cheaper to talk after 7 pm or on the weekends. I knew some people who made lists of what they needed to say when they called so they could minimize their long distance minutes. My personal goal was to stay under $100 dollars a month in long distance charges. However, expensive or not, saying goodbye and moving away got easier because you could always call. When the AT&T monopoly was broken, I don't think anyone envisioned being able to talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime. The whole concept of 'long distance' just vanished almost overnight.
I'm not sure I could vagabond if I couldn't take my friends with me electronically. It's almost a touchstone among people who aren't using electronics that a virtual community is not real community. I think that's wrong, and this vagabonding exercise is going to prove it. I don't think my friends are going to stop reading these blogs. I don't think anyone will stop answering my phone calls or emails. No one has to become a name on a xmas card list that you heard from once a year.
Even so, it was hard to say goodbye. However, now that I'm actually physically gone - it's getting exciting! Time to say hello to this new lifestyle. I've been joking that we are now officially homeless, and one friend emailed back, "No, officially FREE. I think, perhaps, she's right.
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