Tricia Jumonville, EcoBroker®, ASP®

This past weekend, Phil and I took off for a short overnight visit to our son P.J. in San Antonio, just a couple of hours away. The plan was to spend the night at his place, go to Taco Taco on Saturday morning for barbacoa for breakfast, then go to the farmer's market and the San Antonio Museum of Art for a photography exhibit (photographs of food, hitting two of our favorite things).

But, as happens in life, plans can change.

We woke to a rainy day, still very welcome after the two year drought. Breakfast at Taco Taco was good, but they were out of barbacoa (only available Saturday and Sunday mornings) by the time we got there.

After breakfast, we went to the Pearl Brewery Farmer's Market which, given that it was raining, was smaller than usual, but still a lot of fun and interesting. If we'd been in Austin and didn't have a full day planned, I might have brought home some cabrito, but we weren't, so I passed on that for the day. We shared a delicious almond croissant (breakfast having been more than filling) from a stand that has wonderful breads and pastries. We explored the buildling a bit, went through a shop or two, and then headed for the museum, just down theroad.

When we got there, we realized that we weren't really in the mood. Phil asked PJ if he'd mind driving around Phil's old stomping grounds a bit (Phil grew up in San Antonio).

We ultimately ended up at the Japanese Tea Garden, and what a good idea that was! I'd only been there years ago, on a weekend, and it was extremely crowded. This day, with the rain, we had it almost to ourselves - I think only five or six other people came through while we were there. This view is from the Tea House itself (photo below); if you look carefully, on the bridge in the center right of the photo, you can see someone's blue jeans, which will give you an idea of the size.

The Tea House, built entirely of stone.

We also saw this lovely tree, that looks like some sort of datura. Anybody know what it is?

Now, isn't that an absolutely LOVELY thing to do with an old quarry when you're done with it?

With one of the most serious droughts in decades here in Central Texas, pushing two years, grass not only crunching but powdering when you walk on it, giant cracks in the Houston black soil here on the place, grass growing in the bottom of the year-round creek that's been dry that long, a lot of people, myself included, have been praying for rain. I was on the verge of organizing an official Rain Dance.

Then, on Friday, it started. 11 inches later, this was the view off of our front porch.

Understand, the creek that rose this high? Isn't visible during normal (not drought) times, because it's down in a draw. The hundred year flood plain is at the fenceline - you can see a fence post in the middle between the pecan tree and the peach tree in the central right part of the photo above. (The photo below is my husband canoeing in our front yard before the creek REALLY rose - the fenceline is the one above, from a different angle. Joey, the dog in the photo, thinks he's lost his mind.)

I35, a couple of miles down the road, had all six lanes closed. We couldn't leave the place, anyway, because our 1/4 mile long drive was under water, as well. When we DID get out, we couldn't leave one way on the county road because the water was over the road at one place and had torn away some of the road. Fortunately, there are two other ways out.

We're discovering the joys that occur when the leach field is 18 inches under water for any period of time.

And the rains kept coming. They're still coming, in fact, a little, though there is hope of drying up in the next few days. I'm SO glad the drought has broken, and we'll get through this, but remember,

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR!

Yesterday, two Sprouts stores opened in the Austin area - one in Sunset Valley and one (the one we visited) in Round Rock.

Being the foodies we are, my husband and I made a date to go check it out the very first day they were open.

We arrived separately (I was coming from showing properties in several parts of the area) and found parking spaces relatively easily, surprising since the parking lot was full, full, FULL! This should have been a hint.

We didn't take a basket, as this was planned to be an exploratory expedition. Good thing, too - the store was not only packed, but the checkout lines reached halfway to the back of the store. We maneuvered our way through the various departments, checking out the produce and the items available and doing some comparison shopping. A good selection of items that I've had to drive further into town, to Whole Foods or Central Market or Sun Harvest, to find (though I'm still going to have to drive all the way in to get my favored brand of peanut butter, Arrowhead Mills crunchy), and some new items I wasn't familiar with by old, trusted vendors. The produce looked good, though I didn't see any local produce (we are, after all, in the middle of a drought, and that might have something to do with it), and local produce is one of the reasons I was glad to see them open. We'll be checking out the bakery items in our never-ending quest for great bread.

All in all, this looks quite promising. I'll be making a serious shopping trip sometime in the next couple of weeks, after the "new story frenzy!" slows down a bit.

Every year, the ERA Colonial Real Estate office in Georgetown, Texas, has a food drive for The Caring Place, an agency providing assistance for those in need in Williamson County and, thus, often in need itself.

All the agents take a neighborhood and distribute bags to be filled with food. On a designated date, we re-visit our neighborhood and collect the bags put out on their porches by the residents of Williamson County who are aware that we're all in this together and who are giving their neighbors a helping hand.

Then, we all gather at the office and load up the haul into one vehicle and take it off to the Caring Place and unload it.

If you'd like to experience more of this great and fulfilling event with us through photos, look here (and turn on your speakers).

I heard on the news last night, and against this morning in the Austin American Statesman, that Preservation Texas has issued a list of 2009's Most Endangered Historic Places.

We don't often think of the impact that history has on who and what and where we are today, but its impact is enormous. We can't figure out where we're going if we don't know where we are and how we got there. Trashing the old in service to the new is an attitude that leads to such things as giant mountains of trash in our waste disposals, a landscape buried in houses (we just HAVE to have a brand! new! house! with all the latest bells and whistles, or if the refrigerator isn't the latest color, out it goes!).

To counteract this trend, we should be treasuring our history and the places that serve as reminders of it. Whether it be Hamilton Pool, once crystal clear 20 feet to the bottom, now all but destroyed by silt from a nearby development, or a bank building in a mid-century architecture that's all but lost, or a bridge, or a church, or a Governor's Mansion, these are the things that remind us of our roots, that ARE our roots, and they are precious.