Baja Oklahoma

I haven't posted a blog for a few days since I've been in Baja Oklahoma (Texas). I really shouldn't use that term of derision, 'cause I really enjoy going there. So here's a few things of note to pass on to you all.

First of all, Austin just gets bigger and bigger all the time. They were finishing their SXSW music extravaganza and it was all over the local paper, THE AUSTIN-AMERICAN STATESMAN. Former local Tulsa musician Dwight Twilley was interviewed on TV. It seems he now makes his home in California. Secondly, a wide section of Austin has a serious dove problem. I mean serious! They are literally everywhere. Thank goodness they make a rather pleasant cooing sound, but enough is enough. If you thought about it, it would really start to get to you mentally. They started cooing in the early morning and it continues till they go to roost at night. I went outside to throw the frisbee each day and they were on every power line, every tree, every fence, just everywhere. And they are extremely messy, if you know what I mean.

I saw cranes in the air in Austin, Waco and Dallas on my trip back up to T-Town. Question for mayor Bill LaFortune, Where are the cranes in the air you promised us in Vision 2025? Also, the only real development I could see going on in Oklahoma is the indian gaming, or casinos. They pepper the landscape and many are expanding, no doubt due to the law change last year making class 3 or Las Vegas style gaming legal. Oh yeah, the rest stop on Highway 69 as you enter Oklahoma is really pretty nice. For all my life, the rest stops in Oklahoma have been a joke. They were literally two trash cans and a "piss" elm, as my grandfather used to say. You can let your imagination go on that.

Something really needs to be done about I35 in Texas. It is scary! It's still two-lane each way for much of it. Just as it was originally designed, but way behind what it needs to be now. But this time there weren't as many Tex-Mex's hauling old cars South to Mexico as there have been in the past several years. They are noticably slower than other traffic and a real hazard. I encountered most of them at night, tho.

But it is always great to be back in my hometown, T-Town. With all its problems, it is still a great place to live. I'm glad thought that we have places close by to visit.