Transportation Two-Step

Recently, I explored Austin’s transportation options beyond my customary round-trip, tracing a triangle between three major points — Central Austin, East Austin, and South Congress.

Transportation Two-Step Triangle Across Austin

I have written before about the need to plan ahead when choosing bus service to move around Austin — because frequency varies greatly from one route to the next; and, traveling by bus can be frustrating if the bus route is ahead or behind schedule (Capital Metro does not broadcast a live feed of buses’ locations).

A more complex itinerary requires both planning and flexibility, so that you are prepared to jump from one transportation option to the next if you miss a connection. For example I played a bit of Russian roulette with Car2Go. I took the bus to South Congress, betting that I would find a Car2Go there that could take me the final leg to my friend’s house, which is located in a residential neighborhood. I then bet with myself that the car would still be there after dinner to drive home. Luckily, it was. But, I lined up a ride home as plan B, just in case.

Even though I was ready for the day’s “transportation two-step,” I still ran into the customary gaps in service — like the 15 minutes I waited at 6th and Congress for my connection to the South Congress neighborhood. But, on the plus side, I discovered some new things:

• On my way to dinner, I picked up wine for the first time at a wine store, East End Wines, near my coworking space, Conjunctured.  

East End Wines

• My walk took me past the Texas State Cemetery and, for the first time, I really looked at it. When you drive by at 30-40 mph, it is hard to see how beautiful it is. Now I can’t wait to return to explore it.  

Texas State Cemetery

• I also discovered a purple flower I had never seen before growing across the street from the cemetery. I have since learned that it is called Passiflora “Incense” and that it is a great plant to include in a butterfly garden.

Passiflora "Incense"

• Rather than returning home after work or driving directly to my dinner engagement, I took advantage of the irregular bus schedule to spend an hour decompressing on the Hotel San José patio. It’s also a great place for people watching. Every time I visit, I see someone interesting. This time, it was a college-age guy dressed in rolled up white shorts and a rainbow colored bathrobe.

Patio at Hotel San José

All in all, I found that the combination of planning, a flexible attitude, and a little luck turned a complicated, multi-leg trip from an ordeal into a day of reduced stress (thanks to the Hotel San José) punctuated by discoveries along the way.

Up Close – surprises along the way

When I drive down the street, I sometimes feel that I am traveling in a bubble. This feeling can be comforting, particularly on a hot summer day in Texas. But, I have found that it reduces my ability to observe and appreciate my surroundings – the way details shift from day to day and season by season.

For example, we moved back to Austin at the end of spring. It seemed that everything was flowering, even in forgotten places like cracks in the sidewalk.

On one of my walks, I realized that a century plant I had passed dozens of times without really noticing it had produced a flower stalk that reached well into the middle branches of its neighboring oak tree.  The exuberance of the plant life was amazing.

And, then, over a period of two to three weeks, almost all of the flowers disappeared; it seemed that we had entered the much-feared summer, which can drag on for six+ months without any rain.

Last week, however, it started raining again. The plants went wild, and it really hit home that Austin is a water-scarce area.

• Plants that had apparently given up for the season burst back into bloom;

• flowers started appearing in unlikely places;

• and, my walks were punctuated with views of plants and animals that are not usually seen in drought-prone Austin.

Over the past week, the temperature crept back above 100. And, the flowers have started retreating again under the influence of the harsh summer sun. But, I now know to keep my eyes open on my walks for the surprisingly dramatic response of some plants and animals to subtle shifts in temperature, humidity, and rainfall.