spider house rules

It’s true what they say about Austin, that it’s a “cool town.” Despite the temperature. My brother and I needed a few laughs after the trauma of the Snake Farm and other not-so-fun family adventures during a side trip to San Antonio. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema fixed us good. In the spirit of Mystery Science Theater, the Alamo showed Jurassic Park as three comedians sat in the front row with microphones providing a running commentary that made me choke on my pizza and beer. As the cup of water reverberates with each distant-yet-getting-closer thud, and the tension builds in true Spielberg form, the camera pans to the goat that had been tethered to a post to feed the Tyrannosaurus Rex. It’s gone! “The goat is loose!” Laughter is good and necessary.

The Spider House Cafe was a good staging ground for some work we needed to do on a sunny Saturday afternoon. As the rest of the world went to cheer on the UT football team, we hunkered down with our computers and coffee with the other misfits in the large courtyard. Space, delicious space, the one thing New York does not have going for it, spread out around us.

Sunday was a Labor Day barbeque, a delicious Texas meat-fest with home-brewed beer to boot. An eclectic mix of ballistics engineers and musicians. We stayed up too late and had too much fun. Wait, is there such a thing?

One more day in San Antonio and then, unfortunately, I had to leave. There is a city ordinance about having tatoos, and i have yet to ink my body. And so, with mixed feelings, I climbed into the car and headed northwest to New Mexico. I realize, as the trip progresses, that the anticipation of all the places to come soon gets replaced with the memories of what has happened once I got there. That each arrival necessitates a departure. This is elemental. This shouldn’t be a new realization, but it sits with me anew as I move across the landscape, thoughts tumbling in my head.

blessed be the cafes. blessed be the coffee, cold-pressed and iced. blessed be my brother, who stays and does what needs to be done. blessed be the small towns with their freaks and fancies. blessed be the road.