May 20: Austin

The conference was over, but instead of heading back to L.A., I went to Austin and environs for a few days to visit the inimitable, irrepressible Deb Taylor.


I had several hours to fill before she and Matt returned from their Florida vacation, so I wandered the "SoCo" neighbourhood for a while, where I was pleased to see that 'dangerous' playground equipment is alive and well in this litigious and fearful society ...


... then spent an hour or two in the Umlauf Sculpture Garden.

Then it was back to the airport to pick up my never-met-before friends. After a Mexican dinner, we drove out to their 100 yr old home in the tiny town of Carmine (population less than 228) for a weekend of laughter.