Trail of Lights

Tonight we headed over to the opening of the Trail of Lights. It's an Austin tradition an a lot of fun for kids. The 1.25 mile trail loops through Zilker Park and is free to the public. And the public showed up en masse. We walked the trail with no fewer than 10,000 of our closest Austinites. It got a little crazy from time to time (a little too pushy and shovey for me at times and I was thinking I should have brought my tree stand in case I had to brain someone) but overall the crowd was orderly and ooohed and ahhhhed at all the lights in unison.

I'm not one for big public events where 'crushing throngs' are likely to show up. You won't find me in any line for low prices, any crowd for free breadstick samples, any gas station traffic jam for the cheapest gas or watching Bono on a jumbo screen at a stadium show. That's just not how I roll. I'm a loner, reflective, contemplative. If there's a crowd I run the other way. But I have to say, tonight we planned it beautifully. We knew it was going to be packed so we headed out 2 hours before it opened, parked a mile away, had dinner, then leisurely walked down for the opening. I was so proud! So proud that I'm writing it down in public.

As you can see in the pictures we are wearing short sleeves and were kind of sweaty for most of it. Ahhh the tropics. On that note, Kris got the furnace working after he replaced the board. Which is pretty good timing since we are going back down into the forties tomorrow. I know, I know... I know. And I'm sorry.

One more note on the photos: the last one is a real kick in the flag. We found two of these "Free Speech Areas" as we passed through the lights display. Since when is free speech relegated to a traffic island when one is IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!?!?!?! I mean COME OFF IT. I just had to laugh my ass off. What a trip.