July may have been giant, but September surpassed.
A sleepy August saw me in front of walking tours, exposing the Alamo City, and presenting a talk, Secrets of the Capitol, at Querencia of Barton Creek. On the cusp of month-change, however, was the excellent Kerrville Wine and Music Festival, affectionately known as “little folk.” Again, the award-winning Camp Patchouli stood its ground on Quiet Valley Ranch with guitar and vocal accompaniment from some of my most talented friends. The wines from nearby vineyards rolled across our pallets and into a great gastric experience, also entertaining.
On the second Wednesday of the ninth month, I began teaching another “Austin Close-Up” class for the Lifetime Learning Institute. It’s a complete overview of our fair city’s history, geography, entertainment, and culture in four indoor lectures and as many field trips. So far we’ve explored Austin’s physical setting, deep past, and prominent personalities.
As the weather cooled somewhat, things heated up in the guiding business on Tuesday the 23rd, when I got to show the scenic Hill Country to two conferees from North Carolina. These gentlemen were involved with municipal water systems, so we were able to converse about the Edwards Aquifer and interbasin transfer. They, like other newcomers to Central Texas, were surprised by the beauty of this topography.
On Wednesday, it was my pleasure to escort two British folks to the LBJ Ranch. The park service is slowly opening rooms in the Texas White House, so we went through the President’s office. On the way back east, we feasted on lunch at Johnson City’s Silver K Café, bought wine at Texas Hills Vineyards, and traipsed the trails at Lady Bird’s Wildflower Center.
Another pair of people, this time from Toronto, went to the Alamo City with me on Thursday. Friday saw me stepping aboard a huge motorcoach to reveal the hills’ cultural and topographic charms to the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services. They marveled at Blanco County’s Peyton Colony, a post-Civil War freedmen’s community, the old court house in Blanco proper, fabled Luckenbach, and German Fredericksburg in its brewery.
Topping off this month of my birth was the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival, where I reveled in the music of Spiritualized, Erykah Badu, John Fogerty, and Allison Kraus and Robert Plant. Despite the dust, it was fab and fantastic ear fun.