Ai Weiwei and ATX sculptures, dazzling public art in Austin
June 12, 2017 I love seeing public art — sculpture, murals, earthwork, any kind! — and often drag family members out to see new works. Last evening, I headed downtown to the Waller Creek boathouse on Lady Bird Lake to view a trippy new work by Chinese artist and human-rights ...
Octopus’s garden patio at Cenote
April 30, 2017 I’d like to be under the sea, in an octopus’s garden in the shade. And so we were, one recent Sunday morning, on the lovely patio of Cenote cafe in east Austin. A fierce metal octopus by 20 Digit Design holds court near the door, tangled in ...
Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy created to revitalize Austin’s botanical garden
March 17, 2017 For 23 years I’ve been a regular visitor at Zilker Botanical Garden, strolling its paths, picking my way across the Japanese garden’s moon bridge, watching the prehistoric garden grow into maturity. My children had a blast exploring its trails when they were younger, and I’ve enjoyed witnessing ...
Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy created to revitalize Austin's botanical garden
March 17, 2017 For 23 years I’ve been a regular visitor at Zilker Botanical Garden, strolling its paths, picking my way across the Japanese garden’s moon bridge, watching the prehistoric garden grow into maturity. My children had a blast exploring its trails when they were younger, and I’ve enjoyed witnessing ...
Read my article in Country Gardens about East Austin Succulents
March 12, 2017 If you like Austin’s thrift-store, anything-goes, fun-loving style, especially in gardening, check out my article about Eric Pedley’s nursery East Austin Succulents in the current issue of Country Gardens magazine (Spring 2017, pages 70-75). You can read all about Eric’s unique junk-store finds, LP-cooking adventures, and how ...
Bird’s-eye view of downtown Austin
March 04, 2017 This is as high as you can get above downtown Austin without flying. Yesterday evening we took in the view from the observation deck of The Austonian, the tallest residential building in Texas. At 55 floors up, the view (not to mention the elevator ride up there) ...
Hell on wheels at Texas Roller Derby
February 20, 2017 Austin is where roller derby was reborn in the early 2000s, and it’s still a hot ticket, even on a Sunday night. My daughter and I attended last night’s Texas Roller Derby bout between the Rhinestone Cowgirls and the Holy Rollers. It had been 8 years (!) ...
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 ...
Rawr! Dino fun at Austin’s favorite putt-putt place
November 27, 2016 It’s the perfect time of year for outdoor play in Austin, and, boy, did we play this long Thanksgiving holiday! We’ve walked around Lady Bird Lake, played at John Gaines Park in Mueller neighborhood, hiked at Bull Creek, seen a couple of movies (Arrival is excellent, Fantastic ...
Creek Show 2016: Light-based public art along Austin’s Waller Creek
November 17, 2016 Five temporary, light-based art installations come to glowing life each evening through Saturday in downtown Austin along Waller Creek between 5th and 8th Streets. It’s called, simply, Creek Show, with a carnival-esque monster-fish logo (it’s alive!) that I still don’t get, but it’s fun, it’s free, and ...
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 ...
Belting It Out along the boardwalk on Lady Bird Lake
February 22, 2016 I’ve walked the hike-and-bike trail around Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin many times. But on Saturday, for the first time, I walked the relatively new boardwalk portion of the trail (completed in 2014), which starts east of the Congress Avenue Bridge and ends at International Shores ...
Dining on Vinaigrette’s garden patio in South Austin
February 21, 2016 I’m not a foodie, and I don’t get too excited about new restaurants opening on a daily basis here in Austin. And yet something about salad bistro Vinaigrette caught my attention when author Amy Stewart shared (from Eureka, CA!) an Austin Eater article about its recent opening ...
Drive-By Gardens: Xeriscapes taking off at Mueller neighborhood
January 08, 2016 On New Year’s Day, we took a stroll through Mueller neighborhood, a New Urban community in east-central Austin. Built on the site of the old airport, where acres of runways and parking lots once sprawled, attractive homes and row houses in a mix of different styles (no ...
Drive-By Gardens: Home with the armadillo on South Lamar
December 11, 2015 “All the fun of a real armadillo family with no unpleasant aftertaste,” is how the artist at 20 Digit Design describes his steel creatures. I’ve rubbernecked at these fun armadillo sculptures many a time while driving down South Lamar Boulevard toward Mockingbird Domestics, one of my favorite ...
