Floating

Before I moved to Texas my knowledge of the state really came from Yosemite Sam cartoons. I pretty much imagined I'd find mostly cacti and a sparse scattering of trees. It turns out Texas not only has many, many trees, but lots of rivers too! Last year I floated the Comal in New Braunfels, Texas (about an hour south of Austin). Yesterday I floated the Blanco in San Marcos (only a half hour south).

It being the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend we spent literally hours waiting in a line to even get in the river. In this line I saw 19-24 year old kids living out their parents worst fears for them. From 2 pm to 5 pm we waited behind a girl that had a "Made in Australia 1990" tattoo on her back just to get on a bus to take us and our inner tubes one mile to "put in." I know it sounds like I was miserable at this point, but all frustration melted away when we got in the river.

Zach's brother said this river kept him from finishing his degree at Texas State. It's about 5 miles from campus and he said that it was pretty much irresistible on hot days. The place we rented our tubes from is a local institution. Don's Fish Camp is run by an old shirtless man that wears shorts with suspenders and has the skin of an iguana. I'm looking forward to going back on a weekend where approximately 175 kids aren't in line ahead of me.

Back to floating, there's a lot of luck involved. At the end of the trip I felt lucky to still have my flip flops on, the cooler in tow, and the three boys I came with. The river regularly gets rapid and it is only by chance that you get to keep everything you foolishly brought with you. I also felt lucky that the cars in front of us got stopped by the police and not us. In a move that can only be called inspired the police set up right outside of the road that leads out of Don's. Who knew such beautiful tan people could look so miserable sitting in the back of a pick-up truck?

All in all I'd say this weekend really forced me to admit to myself that I've become a Texan. In two months I will have been here for two years. Though at this point I still haven't been a Texan as I long as I was a Chicagoan and I did still get nervous yesterday when I had to stand near someone with a confederate flag beer koozie, I'd have to say that I'm regularly having more fun than I've ever had before. For all it's brashness and blind enthusiasm, it's really kind of an amazing place. I think Molly Ivins said it best: I dearly love the state of Texas, but I consider that a harmless perversion on my part, and discuss it only with consenting adults.