Friday, June 27, 2008

Austin fun fact #1

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from www.austincityguide.com:

The Congress Avenue Bridge spans Town Lake in downtown Austin and is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. The colony is estimated at 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. Each night from mid-March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk to blanket the sky as they head out to forage for food. This event has become one of the most spectacular and unusual tourist attractions in Texas. The most spectacular bat flights are during hot, dry August nights, when multiple columns of bats emerge. There are several points from which to view the event, and an information kiosk is located on the north bank of the river, just east of the bridge.

Zach and I will be in Texas this time next week viewing places to live. Next blog: a report on apartment-hunting in Austin.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Deep in the Heart of...

In August, I will move from Columbia, Missouri (pop: 95,000) to Austin, Texas (pop: 710,000). We all know that everything is bigger in Texas, but my hope is that my time in The Lone Star State will allow me to investigate myths and educate my readers about what it's like to live in a place that, on February 1st, 1861 seceeded from the union to be the charter member of the Confederate States of America. Ultimately, I want and expect to come up with some misconceptions about Texas. I imagine that living in Austin will challenge all of my perceptions and stereotypes about ten gallon hats and big hair (see:http://www.keepaustinweird.com/). I'm hoping that messing with Texas will have many interesting and positive results. Because, to quote Kinky Friedman, "I just want Texas to be number one in something other than executions, toll roads and property taxes."