Rounds

This is what we'll remember from these days: oysters downtown, the Chuy's parade and all the pleasure brought by seeing and hearing the Hardin-Simmons Cowboy Band, the decision to consume rather than return the "Mexican martini" that was brought to the table instead of a margarita straight up with no salt, a free calendar from Tesoros, fabulous post-holiday people-watching at Luby's, a quick stop at Farm to Market on South Congress, especially enjoying acorn squash, green bell peppers, and eggplant from the South Austin Farmers' Market, checking out the Athenian Grill and Cleopatra Mediterranean Restaurant, locating Rudolph's tree lot (back at the corner of Bluebonnet again this year), gathering the seasonal supply of Cella cherries enrobed in dark chocolate, and spending some time at Turntable Records. Best of all was the extreme drop in noise, with no yard-equipment roar or whine to be heard this entire time. Second best was riding the rides down at the little carnival set up on the Ben White access road. We had to check out that Ferris wheel on the skyline, and now we have a new ride that we enjoy. It seems to go by different names from place to place. Crabtree Amusements calls it Crazy Dance, and it combines and improves upon the best features of the Octopus, the Tilt-A-Whirl, and the Scrambler, all in one. Why we've overlooked this one in the past, I can't imagine.