Every time I drive to my parents’ house in central Texas, I tell the family to be on the lookout for zebras. The hot, dry environment is similar to the African savannah, making it perfect for exotic game ranches. Of course, wild animals prefer to avoid open spaces in general, and noisy areas such as highways in particular. So our vigilance — well, mine — went for naught.
Guess what we saw Friday, not 100 yards from the highway? Four zebra, big as life.
I always take a seat on the patio when I have the option — and when it isn’t too hot or wet. The other day it was a little bit of both — not too much, though, to discourage an avid fan of sightseeing, people-watching and atmosphere-drinking.
I have a new favorite eatery in my lunchtime perimeter. I have been three times now, and every time the same manager was on duty. And she is amazing. Let’s be honest, I’m there for the food. If the food were terrible, I wouldn’t care if Bruce Springsteen, LeBron James and Scarlett Johansson were dishing it up. As it happens, the food is great. And I’m prepared to believe this woman gets a lot of the credit.
I figured out why she impresses me so much.
She is always there.
She is always knowledgeable.
She is always busy.
And she is always smiling.
A show I dearly love is coming to town, and I checked to see if the $98 ticket price was perhaps a misprint. Turns out it’s not only accurate, it’s moderate. Much higher prices for tickets are available. And much, much higher ticket prices are posted for other live events later in the year.
Perhaps some of you have a spare $200 lying around …
She’s barely holding on. She is losing feeling in her fingertips. She became convinced a while back that starting this climb was a mistake in the first place, but by then she had no choice; it was continue upward or fall to certain death. So she continued upward, on a journey she had already decided she could not finish.
And then she stopped to take a rest. It was never a long-term plan. She just wanted to do anything but climb. …
