falling in love with austin, little by little

today after work (a nice, calm day in which i mostly caught up on personal business) i took the newly purchased silver schwinn for its maiden voyage. the inauguration of the silver schwinn, if you will...? at 6:00 it was still warm and sunny as i headed down towards town lake, the bike squished into the hatchback of my ghetto-ass ride. once i got on the trail it quickly became clear to me that i was not the only one in austin with the brilliant after-work trail plan - some parts of the trail were so crowded i felt like i was running a marathon where i somehow didn't get the memo that 95% of the other participants were going to be on foot.

but it was still lovely. it felt great to be on a bike again, and i was able to explore more of the trail than i ever had before. i saw swans, and kayakers, and even a little turtle sunning himself on a piece of construction material (of all things). there were actually two little turtle guys, one with a beautiful striped yellow head and one smaller guy with his head and limbs pulled into his shell. i sat there for a few mins waiting for him to bare his stuff but alas, it was not to be. the trail took me right next to the river and i admired how the evening sun made the downtown austin skyline sparkle. i crossed countless bridges, rode past the stevie ray vaughn statue and watched as people play sports on auditorium shores and frolicked with their dogs. i took breaks at several of the stations set up with free ice-cold water and little cone-shaped paper cups.

plus the people watching was amazing. there was this one woman speed-walking in a red bra and a matching red sweat sKirt (skirt! and she was not exactly svelte either). there was one dude who seriously could have been an underwear model. there were families, old couples, young couples, plenty of 20-something with ipods, and several punky-looking alterna-types on dirt bikes. super-athletic people whose muscles were glistening with sweat and other people who looked like they might pass out from the exhaustion of lumbering along at a snail's pace. white people, brown people, all diff shades (well, as many shades as you can find in austin, anyway), everyone just hanging out on the trail and enjoying the sun.

honestly, it was an austin moment. one that will hopefully be relived again and again.

after the ride i took a quick shower and met up with mary lorraine for al fresco dining and a glass of wine. we blabbed on and on about anything and everything, and i went home feeling talked-out and glad.

and now i'm home for a quick blog update, some ice cream on my front porch, and hopefully some reading before bed.

as monday nights go, i'd have to say this is one to remember. good times.