LBJ anyone remember him?

Lyndon B Johnson, former president of the United States. I remember him as the president who couldn't pull the plug on the Vietnam War. What gives with wars and presidents from Texas? I digress.

His ranch, now a national park, is en route to Austin. I took the audio tour. LBJ, like GWB, sent many days governing from his ranch. Even had his own airstrip for a mini US Airforce 1. There was also a little German farm pre-electricty where you could experience 1800's farming. What I learned was that LBJ was a teacher and was responsible for the Head Start program that is still in existence today.

I get into Austin late in the afternoon. Drop the bike off for shipping back to Connecticut. Then to Martina's home where I can take up couch space for a couple on nights. I find Martina on her front yard wrapping string the color of hot pink around sticks clustered like the skeleton of a tee pee. Eventually beans will climb up the the strings and poles.

Martina is about my daughter's age. She bought her house over a year ago and has turned it into a construction zone. Walls removed, windows replaced, plaster, wires, sawdust. She is fixing it up to be sustainable using earth friendly materials. Most of the sweat labor is hers.

She shows me the couch. It's a beautiful day out and I don't want to get in the way of her gardening. I tell her I can figure myself out and to get back to what she was doing. My organizational brain kicks in and I need to make sense of the clutter. I get to work dusting and sweeping the sawdust, cleaning the counters, organizing the building supplies. In a couple hours the garden is done and Martina's living space looks and feels livable. We are both happy.

I join Martina to meet some friends at a bar for a birthday drink. How many themes can you combine in a drinking establishment? This place has bowling, skeet ball, and karaoke. It seems to work. Her friends are all over the map in personalities and professions. They appear to be connected through church. I feel comfortable and welcome. From there we go back to Martina's neighborhood. We walk down the street to a neighbors and sit around a fire drinking, making shmores and sampling homemade gelato. Most of the conversation centers around the recent film, music, art festival that occurred recently. Good people.