By now, you've probably heard, but The Farmer and They Yogi are going to spend some time here in Texas...but it's Austin, so we won't actually count it as Texas- deal?
We decided to stay because, simply put, this place is awesome. Finding housing is a bit of a challenge, though, especially if you've got no 'verifiable income'. It's ok. We worked through it...twice. The first spot we found turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. I won't get into the gory details so, suffice to say, if something doesn't feel right to you (or if it feels down right grubby and disgusting and more than slightly dangerous), you owe it to yourself to speak up in your Big Girl voice (yes, men, you too!) and find a way outta that ish. And that's just what we did. Credit card/hotel reward perks really come in handy in a pinch, if you know what I mean.
A few days later, we found a great little place in a damned fine neighborhood...just like we wanted. Ask and search and try really hard and ye shall receive, I say. Want to head Downtown? Bike there. Need groceries? Get on your bike. Feel like swimming in the springs or hiking or enjoying a concert or laying in the grass and reading a book? Bike there.
Speaking of biking 'round the town...Austinites REALLY love bicycles (and their cigarettes, but it's getting late and I'm really not in the mood dissect the oral fixations of total strangers, ya know?)
This past Saturday, we rode our bikes downtown at 8:30am to volunteer for The Urban Farms Bicycle Tour. We helped check in the participants (500 of them!) in exchange for free entry to the event (we saved $80!!!). The plan was to help for a couple of hours then ride on the self-guided tour to the participating urban farms and community gardens where we can eat yummy chef prepared food samplings. We figured it would be fun...and filling...and sweaty. We achieved two out of three, as we lollygagged so long before heading out on our trusty steeds that we missed almost all the food...and the farm tours!!! Most of the farmyfolks closed up shop and took off before we arrived! OHNOS! Hours and hours and miles and miles of biking around Austin was a lot of fun, but it really did require refueling!!!! Since the much-anticipated free food frenzy dissipated before our arrival, and we found ourselves lost and famished in the veritable cafe wasteland of extremely East Austin, we found ourselves noshing on'pity food' from a kind woman named Barbara, who was closing up her farmstand just as we arrived at Boggy Creek Farm. It was the best loaf of ciabatta and the tastiest giant Fuji apple we could have hoped for!!! Thank you thank you thank you. It gave us the required energy to cycle our filthy arses back downtown for a dinner of pizza and XXX Rootbeer, before tackling the last couple miles back to the house (yeah, yeah, it was uphill the whole way!) And...we didn't die!
Glad we did it!
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| The Yogi pauses to check out some highway underpass art... |
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| Underpass art pauses to check out The Yogi. |
Anyway, I've really never seen so many bike shops and bike-related activities in a ten-mile radius! It's at least as big as Yoga out here!...there's this, monthly:
and this, all the gosh darned time:
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| Build a bike for someone in need, or even for yourself! |
You can have homemade soup delivered by bicycle (their wall claims they also make the world's be grilled cheese sammy, but neither Farmer nor Yogi has investigated said claim as of yet).
When you're full, you can have your soup's (and other foodwaste's) remains carted away by The East Side Compost Pedallers!!!
And we lady-lovin-lady queers get our very own weekly bonding (and, usually, beering) ride called - what else? LEZRide.It seems to be somewhat sponsored by the good folks at The Q Austin.
The Q is a 'safe space' and a non-profit and a fab space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, allied and questioning people to get info, bond, and have a great time. I'm excited to check out their weekly movie and game nights, especially after the gracious welcome we received when we showed up for their Big Ol' Queer Potluck on Thanksgiving Eve! Belly laughs abounded- rather painfully, based on our gorging ourselves on millions of vegetarian delights!
And speaking of Potluck pleasures, I'm pretty sure The Yogi and I could get all our meals via potluck in this town. We've been to three in a week and a half, but we've been invited to somewhere in the neighborhood of ten. And we don't even freakin' know anybody here yet! Crrrrazy!
We've found so much so far, and we've only just arrived. We've met some really kind souls and slightly kindred spirits. Artists, musicians, and activists dayjobbing as pedicabbers and grocery store clerks, homebrewing Kombucha and baking artisanal breads in stone-fired ovens. This feels right.
*end transmission
-your trusty Farmer
Another awesome post!! Makes me want to move to Austin! Can't believe it's so friggin awesome there.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm excited for you guys' journey throughout this town! Potluck sounds amaaaazing, I'm starving. The end.