Paris parks, pigeons, and masterpieces
June 28, 2018 After Venice earlier this June, we spent 5 nights in Paris, a city I hadn’t seen in 29 years. It is as beautiful and vibrant as I remembered. My husband took these twilight images from the top of the Arc de Triomphe, looking out over the city ...
Spring-fed waterfalls and swimming holes at Krause Springs
April 02, 2018 For years I’ve wanted to visit Krause Springs, a spring-fed swimming hole and campground in Spicewood, Texas, about 45 minutes northwest of Austin. Last Saturday we drove out there, past bluebonnets splashing ribbons of blue along the roadsides. We arrived early, and for a short time, while ...
Fair grounds at Fareground food hall in downtown Austin
February 06, 2018 Twice last week I visited buzzed-about Fareground food hall on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin, killing time before shows at the Paramount Theater. I’ve yet to see Fareground in the daytime, but at night the softly lit landscaping and plaza sure are enticing. (The stairs and outer ...
Read This: Gardens of the High Line and The High Line, two books about NYC’s most influential public park
January 23, 2018 Exploring the High Line in October 2014 remains a highlight of my garden travels, and I’d love to go see it again. Until then, reading about it keeps the fire burning, gives insight into the origins and design of this unique public garden/nature walk/civic space, and offers ...
New Central Library – “Austin’s front porch” – boasts rooftop garden and more
December 15, 2017 Austin is head over heels in love with our new Central Library, a marvelous civic structure by Lake|Flato that is much more than a library. It’s a community space for all of Austin in a prime location on Cesar Chavez Street near Austin City Hall and across ...
Chihuly in the Forest and American art at Crystal Bridges Museum
November 05, 2017 While in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, last weekend, my husband and I drove to nearby Bentonville to see the remarkable collection of American art at Crystal Bridges Museum. The museum is surrounded by pleasant walking trails, and an exhibit of Chihuly glass sculptures, Chihuly in the Forest, was ...
Scenic coastal views along Highway 1 in Northern California
August 25, 2017 A road trip gives you the freedom to explore along the way, to make detours or just stop at an overlook to enjoy a view. In early August we made a family road trip up the coast of Northern California, a region we’d never seen beyond Stinson ...
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 ...
Turning a neighborhood median strip into a garden
April 18, 2017 A few years ago I toured Colleen Jamison’s beautiful garden in central-west Austin, and a few days ago I had the pleasure of a revisit. It is still wonderful! But here’s what wowed me before I even stepped foot in her garden: a median strip down the ...
Wildflower fields abloom at Wildseed Farms
March 24, 2017 A wildflower photo safari is my springtime ritual, and I especially like to drive out to the Texas Hill Country to photograph wildflowers against the rugged hills, rocks, and prickly pear. This spring, thanks to a mild winter, Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) are carpeting roadsides a few ...
Exploring Mueller’s Southwest Greenway, public art, and Texas Farmers’ Market
March 05, 2017 A week ago, my dad and I popped over to east Austin’s Mueller neighborhood for a springtime stroll around the Southwest Greenway. They have some pretty big spiders in those parts! I love this sculpture, Arachnophillia by Houston artist Dixie Friend Gay, which stands 23 feet tall ...
Rock scrambling at Bull Creek on New Year’s Day
January 02, 2017 For a New Year’s Day hike, we explored Bull Creek again, doing a bit of scrambling among the boulders on the cliff edge. It was a glorious day, about 74 F degrees and sunny. My daughter struck a few poses above the creek. I call this one ...
Bull Creek beauty worth fighting for
November 30, 2016 Bull Creek winds through one of the most scenic areas of Austin, under vertical limestone cliffs softened with maidenhair fern and dripping with water from numerous springs. In spring and summer, Austinites love to swim in the creek’s deep-water holes (although high levels of bacteria, often from ...
Autumn stroll around Lady Bird Lake
November 28, 2016 Autumn rarely sets our trees aflame here in central Texas, and this year’s fall color looks to be more of a dud than usual. But still, you can find a few russet tinges if you squint, especially in the coppery needles of bald cypresses around Lady Bird ...
Edibles, green roof, and playground at Mueller Community Gardens & Gaines Park
November 25, 2016 We spent Thanksgiving in the mixed-use, urban-infill, sustainably-designed Mueller neighborhood in east Austin, where my in-laws hosted us in their lovely new home. As always when we visit, I’m impressed by the park spaces and community amenities available to Mueller residents, and I fantasize about moving into ...
Out and about in Austin nurseries and parks
September 18, 2016 Lately I’m taking as many garden photos with my phone as with my “real” camera, and these often get posted to my Instagram. But not all of them, and sometimes I like to share them on my blog too. So here’s some cool stuff I spotted last ...
