KEYS

I left my keys over at a friends house last night and now I am LOST without them. It would seem impossible to form an attachment to keys, but somehow I have and now I can't get to them. He knows the keys are at his house. But he isn't answering his cell. He isn't answering his home phone. He isn't answering his door. I NEED my keys. I am helpless without them.

Happy Thanksgiving

Here it is again. Thanksgiving. Another Turkey Day, my 49th. Hmmm.
I am sitting here in Starbucks as I usually do almost every morning, watching the people and wondering why they are here at Starbucks, not home baking their turkeys and watching the parades. Of course that seems silly to ask since I am here at Starbucks, not home baking a turkey and watching the parades. I KNOW why I am here. But what are their stories.
The old couple that came in to a Starbucks and drank Jones sodas, not coffee. Are they on their way to their grandkids' and killing time before they need to be there? Then there's the runners. A whole pack of them. They obviously ran in some Turkey Day Marathon, cause one of them still has his number tacked to the waist of his shorts. There are a few single people here and there too. Wandering in to buy coffee and a paper. Sometimes they stay and sit for a while to read the paper and sometimes they leave right away. A few people dash in to buy several coffees to go, obviously running home to their Thanksgiving at home. Don't people make their own coffee anymore? Well, we don't, so of course that's a dumb question.
Then there's the poor barrista who is spending her first Thanksgiving away from her family. I remember that feeling. One Thanksgiving I spent alone at the laundrymat doing laundry before heading off to work. That was kind of sad. I was there with a huge family, the men and the kids off to do laundry while the women folk apparently stayed home to bake the Turkey.
It's an interesting holiday. As a kid I just assumed everyone spent the day with family, watching the parades
and waiting for the Turkey to finish cooking. I didn't realize that there were those people who spent it alone, by choice or not. It NEVER occurred to me that some people just didn't celebrate Thanksgiving.
So, for all of you who do enjoy a good Turkey, the parades and the football, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you are spending the day with family and friends, enjoying life. That's what we should be most thankful for, Enjoying Life.

Preamble

As a preamble to the book review below, I am re-blogging an epiphany I wrote over a year ago.

Many Many Years ago, in a Small Town in Northeast Texas, my parents rented a duplex across the street from an Equally Small Presbyterian affiliated college. This was same year my older sister was born. And the same year my mother began to dream that maybe, just maybe, her daughter would attend that prestigious college across the street. Eighteen years later, it was me, not my older sister who left home in Austin to attend college at that Small College in the Small Town in Northeast Texas. For Four Years that College was my life. I Lived on campus like everyone else who went there at that time. I had an adoring, loving and considerate boyfriend and I made friends on my own for the first time since Junior High. I even joined a Sororiety...that is SO unlike me, but in those days it was THE thing to do. (NO this was NOT the 1950's by the way). The campus was quaint and charming. With magnificent shade trees and wonderul old buildings. The only draw back was the horrendous stench that sometimes wafted over the campus from the Purina Dog Food Factory just behind the college. At times the smell was so bad it would turn your stomach as you stolled across the grassy lawn to eat your meals in the Student Union. But I adored That Place. I loved the college life and was in mourning each summer while I waited to return to the campus and my dorm room. At the end of those 4 years, I graduated. I received a liberal arts degree with a major in History which was basically worthless despite the huge amount of money my parents had borrowed for me to go to this esteemed institution of higher learning. Also at the end of those wonderful golden 4 years, my adoring, loving and oh so considerate boyfriend dumped me. I was devistated. And after 4 years of college friends and fun, I was back in Austin. Alone, in debt, unable to find a decent job and massively depressed. I am not sure I ever fully recovered. Ok, Fast Forward to Present Day. I eventually lost contact with each and every dear friend I made during those four years. I finally paid off all the loans and got a half way decent job. And best of all I met and married a wonderful man whom I have been married to for almost 16 years. And Now. Now, I have been given the wonderful opportunity at work to return to this Small Northeast Texas Town for two days and one night. I tell my co-workers that this is Great. I tell my co-travelers We MUST go by my college and tour it. I tell myself, it will be a chance to walk down memory lane. Let me tell you about this Small Town. It is HUGE now!! They moved the main highway so that it bypasses the middle of town and as a result a whole New Middle of town has been created. With a Chilis, a Shlotzskeys, an Office Depot and a Starbucks!! During my work day, I quietly snuck away, alone in this Small Town, to drive by the old Small college of my youth. I am thinking "this will be great!!" Maybe the campus bookstore will be open and I can buy a souvenir. Maybe I will park and walk the tree lined campus like old times. I can Relive some good old memories. Even as I approach the school, I began to see the changes to my old stomping grounds. The old main road that crossed the railroad tracks and led to the college has now been elevated and turned into some sort of off ramp. The trees that lined that beautiful avenue are all but gone. So are many of the Beautiful old houses that once lined the street across from the campus. This isn't the "memory lane" I remember. I reach the college and see some familiar buildings...my old dorm and one of the neighboring dorms are still there. But the funny looking stucco monstrosity of a dorm that sat on the other side of my dorm is mysteriously missing. I round the campus on that same road my parents lived on many many years ago and realize the houses are no longer there. Not even the duplex they rented. All along the street are new college buildings. And a stadium. A REAL stadium with a brick facade and aluminum seats instead of wood. There is actually a separate soccor field!! They don't have to share the football field anymore. It's amazing. I keep driving. I round the corner with awe, seeing more and more new and big buildings. And Then Suddenly I see them. Those senior apartments my ex-boyfriend lived in the year he dumped me. Located at the back of campus...the apartments have been renovated and added on to, but some how they are still familiar. Why is that? I roll the window of my rented car down for closer inspection. These are not the ratty wooden buildings I remember. The design is similar, but other than that there is no resemblance. Yet they bring back such strong emotions. It's horrible. It's Horrible! It's a horrible smell coming through the window of my rental car. OMYGOD! The dog food factory is blowing it's stench my way. And suddenly I realize among alll the changes and improvements, one thing has remained the same. This Place Stinks!! And suddenly I feel a weight drop from me. What was I thinking? I can never go back. But do I need to? NO!! Do I want to? No, not really. Then as I drive by those stinkin' apartments I shoot the finger. At those apartments, at my ex-boyfriend, at my feelings of loss. These weren't exactly the memories I wanted to relive, but these are the memories I am finally and thankfully relieved from.


The "Admin building" at Austin College: that "Small College in the Small Town in Northeast Texas".

The History of Swimming by Kim Powers

I heard about Kim Powers' book, The History of Swimming, through one of the e-mails I get from Austin College. I graduated from Austin College. The same class as Kim, 1979. I knew Kim Powers and his twin brother Tim. Or I should say, I knew who they were. We weren't a part of the same "circle of friends" but, when your college only has 1200 students, you get to know who most of them are, especially if they're in the same class as you.


I didn't know Kim and Tim. I didn't know about their senior year or their lives after college. I didn't know about alot of things that happened that last year at AC. It was a hard year for a lot of us. There were nervous breakdowns, breakups, unwanted pregnancies, suicide attempts, even deaths. It was a turbulent time for people so young who didn't have the tools, the life experiences, to help them cope with what was happening to them.

Anyway, I started looking at the reviews of The History of Swimming and I cruised by Kim's website for the book. Since he included a lot about Austin College in the book, I decided to read it. I've spent the last 10 years experiencing something akin to post traumatic stress disorder because of my senior year at Austin College. I guess it's been on my mind, a lot.

So I read his book. At times, it made me uncomfortable because of the personal memories it conjured up. And yet, I was mesmerized by it too. I knew who the main characters were, I knew who some of the minor characters were, I knew about many of the events and places he describes in the book. It was so surreal to find that connection.

Kim's story is about much more that his college years. It's about his brother. His twin brother. The History of Swimming relates the truth about Kim's feelings towards his brother, Tim. The confusion, desperation, anger, and love Kim felt about his twin and the life they shared. He centers the story around one weekend in which he goes searching for his brother who has gone missing from New York City. He uses the letters he has saved from his brother through the years as a road map of sorts to help him discover where his brother might have gone. The letters trigger many painful memories, as he travels back and forth in time, trying desperately to solve the mystery of why his brother disappeared. It's more than just a search for his brother though, it's also a personal quest to unravel the past and answer many questions about their lives that have tormented Kim. The answers don't come easy and they aren't always pleasant.

I can't, as much as I have tried, stand back and look at Kim's book from an objective point of view. His book haunts me with too many memories. Maybe, after I mull it over for a while, I can look at it with clear eyes. That's how I operate. I'll have to think about it for a while. And that's pretty much ALL I've been doing about since I finished reading The History of Swimming.

I want to wish my one true love HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
He is a BIG Longhorn Fan!
He is a WONDERFUL husband!
And I LOVE him with all my HEART!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!!

The Frisco Shop--Last of the local Nighthawk Chains

There used to be a small local chain of restaurants in Austin called Night Hawk which was started by Mayor Harry Akin about 50 years ago. They began with a small restaurant called the Frisco Shop located on the corner of Burnet Road at the Koenig Lane. When it was opened it wasn't surrounded by much, however now it is in the center of a major business area. The Frisco Shop is the last of the Night Hawk chain. At one time, there were Night Hawk restaurants on the corner of Reinli and IH35 and one on South Congress just past Barton Springs. They both eventually closed. However the Frisco Shop has remained in business. The Frisco is still run by the Akin family, but when the last of the Nighthawk restaurants around town closed many years ago, a few of the long time employees bought into the Frisco Shop. Things didn't change at the tiny restaurant, not even the waitresses or the cooks, many of which who have worked for the restaurant for over 20 years.

The Frisco has been expanded a bit in the last 50 years, but it's still a small restaurant. A lot of the neighbors from Allendale eat there frequently. So frequently in fact that the wait staff and the cooks know them by name. It just has that small town feel you don't find much here in Austin anymore. The menu is basic with steaks, chopped steaks, and hamburgers. But it's the chili and enchiladas that stand out. Or is it the ice box pies? It's hard to tell. There is so much about the place that is familiar, even if you have never eaten there before. It reminds you of a time gone by, something from your past that you might not see anywhere else again.

The good news is, the Frisco Shop plans to stay in business and remain in the Allendale neighborhood if possible. The bad news is they may have to move from their current location. Walgreens is working on a deal to buy that corner and build a store there. The Frisco owners say they need to have a bigger building, the dining rooms and kitchen are way too small, so moving is the best for them as well. However, will it ever be the same? That location has always been the Frisco Shop.