Vital Farms gets it eggxactly right

I love following my symbolic use of the egg in the Shell and Kernel post with the entirely somatic experience of Vital Farms, a kind of Elysian Fields for chickens. Humans flocked to the tour yesterday allowing us to mingle with pastured chickens and their protector humans and canines. Vital Farms uses moveable coops to ensure fresh fields for foraging and organic feed for optimum health and hen well-being. For those of us who remember the movie Chicken Run it’s confirmation that chickens really do win! For more information about Vital Farms and other organic and local foods initiatives visit their website and blog. Chicken and human flocks shown mingling below.

April Fools saunter Johnson City

Sunday drives were a family way of life for boomers, like road trips and burger joints. While I don’t eat beef, I did enjoy the really tasty baa baa black sheep burger with goat cheese, stone ground mustard, tomato and pepperoncini peppers at Pecan Street Brew Pub. Couldn’t resist the Sisyphus Barleywine Real Ale, a nice compliment to my burger and sweet potato fries. Walking through the low trafficked, unrented stores and the open streets of Johnson City (where everyone knows each tree) fed my nostalgia for small town life. Taking an out of the way road back to 281 presented us with a romanticized family idyll: a dog swimming in a creek with mom, dad and two laughing kids. The green, rolling hills of the hill country are a welcome harbinger of spring, more wild flowers will come. Rain has caressed the land and given us a delightful bouquet.

Waller creek walkabout

Early flowers, green grass and the occasional spring shower are revivifying. Sandwiched between winter and our endless summer, enjoy my afternoon stroll along Waller creek.

There’s a Butterfly on my Milkweed


sung to the tune of “straighten up and fly right”

There’s a butterfly on my milkweed
There’s a butterfly on my milkweed
There’s a butterfly on my milkweed
Drink up baby and be on your way

Took all summer and into the fall
You must have been having a ball
Heading south before the frost
Hurry my friend and don’t get lost

There’s a butterfly on my milkweed
There’s a butterfly on my milkweed
There’s a butterfly on my milkweed
Drink up baby and be on your way

That flower’s been waiting for you
Wondering if you’d ever come through
So glad you stopped to get refueled
Come back again baby after winter’s cool

There’s a butterfly on my milkweed
There’s a butterfly on my milkweed
There’s a butterfly on my milkweed
Drink up baby and be on your way

We’ll be looking for you some fine spring day.

11-11-11 in the Texas Hill Country

Contrary to popular belief, there is water in the hill country.  Colleen and I had to go to Hunt, Texas to find it, but Autumn cypress foliage rivals northern forests for flaming reds, orange and shades of gold and rust.  Taking a break from the routine, 11 brings an opportunity for balance, recalibration and strength.  For fun, we went to Stonehenge II (now in Ingram, Texas) to stand among the stones and release the old, walking counterclockwise around the circle, then ushering in a new energetic cycle by strolling clockwise among the stones.  The creeks and rivers offered peace – lush grasses and languid flowing waters the dry beds closer to town have lost in the drought. Ingram has a few shops, including the Copper Cactus, whose humorous mural is featured below.  If you are looking for a good German meal in Fredericksburg, I recommend Friedhelm’s Bavarian Restaurant.  Schnitzel, ja voll! All in all a lovely day touring the gently rolling hills and dales of Central Texas. May peace remain and pass on to the warriors who have gone before us this Veteran’s Day 2011.

Autumn comes to Tejas

Finally, the weather has lightened up and Hell’s fury is spent. Rain would be sweet, but nary a drop dots the horizon. Walking and bike riding bring back so many memories, years in the saddle and on the hike and bike trail. My fall garden is in, giving much pleasure with tangy greens, red peppers, herbs and dwarf eggplants. I may be a flaneur, roaming the city, seeking to slake my aesthetic appetite, but it’s the bios that soothes my soul.

Occupy Wallstreet Austin

Saturday morning walking around the lake hoping for rain. I checked in on the occupation of Austin and wonder if this protest is the beginning of a social movement, as Dr. Michael Young suggests. If so, what are the chances that it will help create new interest in labor unions? Is the worker’s goose cooked or can we mobilize the community to respond creatively to egregious social inequality? We had a very interesting brownbag presentation at UT with 3 graduate researchers discussing worker led social movements in Argentina and Peru. Check UTAustinSOC for discussions on Wallstreet Spring, Durkheim’s anomie and more.