Wishing you a merry and bright Christmas!
December 24, 2016 The Christmas tree is aglow. Festive ornaments add cheer. Family gathers close, and memories of past Christmases are retold. Lights shine across the city… …and we’ve spun under the Zilker Christmas Tree on its 50th anniversary. Neighbors’ houses glow like magical fairylands of light. And troubles are ...
Decking the cedar trees on Loop 360, an Austin Christmas tradition
December 10, 2016 Just after Thanksgiving every year, Austinites who live along scenic Loop 360 are treated to the festive sight of roadside juniper trees decked out in creative, colorful decorations, turning miles of highway into a drive-by Christmas parade. It started off, years ago, with just a few trees ...
Lucinda’s Dia de los Muertos garden
November 01, 2016 My friend Lucinda Hutson celebrates Dia de los Muertos like no one else I know. Her colorful, Mexican-inspired home and garden in the Rosedale neighborhood of central Austin grows even more vibrant for Day of the Dead, and inside she stages elaborate table displays and beautiful altars ...
Dia de los Muertos parade brightens Austin once again
October 30, 2016 Every autumn I look forward to the season of the dead. I enjoy both Halloween for its macabre playfulness and the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, which superficially resembles Halloween in its skeleton imagery but is actually a non-scary, celebratory event. Dia de los Muertos, as ...
To all the moms
May 08, 2016 Pink petal hearts Lots of fishes kisses Kiss Kiss You’re my cup of tea To all the moms, and to my mom especially, happy Mother’s Day! I welcome your comments. If you’re reading this in an email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment link ...
Remember the Alamo for Christmas lights in San Antonio
December 23, 2015 We rolled down I-35 to San Antonio on Monday afternoon to see the famous Christmas lights along the River Walk. Naturally, we remembered the Alamo and made that our first stop. A grand tree alight with clusters of colored bulbs and cascading ribbons, bedecked with oversized San ...
Christmas in Mexico at Lucinda Hutson's home and garden
December 21, 2015 Lucinda Hutson‘s purple cottage in the Rosedale neighborhood of central Austin is a wonderland of Mexican folk art, colorful furnishings, and brightly painted walls. I had the pleasure of re-visiting last Friday, and brought along new friend Paula Panich, a Los Angeles writer and teacher of garden ...
Christmas in Mexico at Lucinda Hutson’s home and garden
December 21, 2015 Lucinda Hutson‘s purple cottage in the Rosedale neighborhood of central Austin is a wonderland of Mexican folk art, colorful furnishings, and brightly painted walls. I had the pleasure of re-visiting last Friday, and brought along new friend Paula Panich, a Los Angeles writer and teacher of garden ...
Decked and swinging at the Wildflower Center
December 10, 2015 The weather has been so beautiful lately — Austin’s payoff for making it through another summer. Last Sunday, the whole family joined me for an afternoon stroll at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, one of my very favorite places. Right now it’s a mix of fall ...
Zilker Holiday Tree lights Austin skyline again
November 30, 2015 Last night Austin officially got into the holiday spirit with the lighting of the Zilker Tree. A spectacle of 3,000 colored lights strung from the moonlight tower at Zilker Park, the tree stands 155 feet tall and will glow every night through New Year’s Eve. Our family ...
Flower-adorned skeletons at Dia de los Muertos parade
November 02, 2015 Today is the final day of Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, a 3-day Mexican holiday that’s celebrated here in Austin too. My daughter and I attended the Day of the Dead parade in downtown Austin on Saturday, part of the 32nd annual Viva ...
October evening stroll on South Congress Avenue
October 31, 2015 I had dinner on Austin’s iconic South Congress Avenue on Wednesday evening and afterward took a leisurely stroll to people-watch and window-shop. Honky-tonk music from Guero’s Oak Garden filled the cool evening air, people were smiling, and the street had a festive yet laid-back vibe that made ...
Have a bright and merry Christmas!
December 17, 2014 Several neighbors on a nearby street go all out with Christmas lights and inflatables every year, and we enjoy crawling past with our headlights dimmed to take it all in. This is my favorite display on the block. It’s a fantasia of colored lights that run vertically ...
Wildflower Center aglow with the spirit of the season
December 15, 2014 Luminarias glowed and tree lights twinkled throughout the native-plant gardens at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center during last weekend’s annual Luminations event. I’ve been several times over the years, but this time the lights extended all the way to the new Family Garden. We got there ...
A year in photos: So long, 2013
December 31, 2013 Last year I had fun selecting my 10 favorite photos from 2012, an annual meme led by Les at A Tidewater Gardener. So here I am again, sitting at my computer in stretchy pants and a cuddly cardigan, with the spicy scent of a baking pumpkin pie ...
Spectacular lighted trees bring holiday joy in Johnson City
December 22, 2013 We tooled into Johnson City at dusk after a day spent in charming Fredericksburg, in the Hill Country west of Austin. After dinner at a local brew pub, we stopped by the electric company, just a block off the main road, to view the lighted trees that ...
