I'm not the only person in Austin who finds it wrenching that the same cool* breeze that's making daily life so much more tolerable in town this week is what's been feeding the horrific fires just 30 miles to our east. Nor am I the only one who's nervously eyeing the neighbor's giant dessicated bamboo stand while hosing down a crispy mass of shrubs along the back of the fence.
They can put the fires out, but the danger of more won't diminish until we get some rain, and apparently we aren't going to get any ever again. So the hell with it, since I'm already logged in I'm going to pour a glass of whiskey and post pictures of a few things that made me feel good this week:
There's a new Mexican place in the strip mall at Manor and Loyola, the third or fourth one in as many years in that location. The sopes I got were so-so, but Eric's torta was good, they serve their free chips with refried beans and salsa, and they have fruit cups and paletas. We will be back.
I doodle a lot. My desk is littered with scraps of paper and Post-Its with hapless faces scrawled on them until I get sick of the mess, throw it all away, and start anew. The other day I thought it might be nice to do something with all these little guys instead of sweeping them into a trashcan. I'm just not sure what that thing is yet.
The goddamn dog makes me happy every goddamn day. Goddamnit.
*Or cooler. I'm not being cute when I say that days that only get up to 95-96 degrees feel fantastic after the Hell's fanged anus of a summer we've had.