Monday Meanderings - 12.15.2014

The new phone books are here! The new phone books are here! Here's a question. How many phone books ago did you actually use one to look up something? I wouldn't want to be a Yellow Pages ad salesman these days.

Next week Austin celebrates the 125th anniversary of its founding. Hard to believe that we have been here for roughly a quarter of that time.

This week I received a check from Toyota! It was part of a class action lawsuit dating back to the brouhaha about Toyota automobiles unexpectedly and unintentionally accelerating. As far as I know, our Highlander was never involved and was never recalled for that condition, so I guess the $29 was Toyota's way of saying, "Thanks for driving a potentially unsafe car - not that it's worth all that much to us."

Our home treadmill is positioned so that I can look into the backyard as I walk. Normally there is not much to see out there but the neighbor's overgrown grape vine and the occasional squirrel or two.  But this week there is a Chinese Tallow tree in gorgeous Fall bloom - leaves of pale green, yellow, gold, and rich dark red. They are tumbling to the ground with every puff of wind, but there's a rich, variegated carpet of color on the ground. It's not New England, but for Austin it is spectacular.

We made the annual trek up IH-35 for the Cousin's Christmas on Saturday. That's our name for the Holiday get-together that evolved from Christmas with our parents. With origins in "going home to Breckenridge" for Christmas, it grew into my brother, sister and I gathering our families at the Lake Cabin with Mom and Pops, and then later in Fort Worth when our parents relocated there. Now that we are the older generation, the three of us host a gathering for our multi-generational families, and any available cousins of our own.

My sister found evidence that we have been holding the gatherings in their current format for 27 years. The gatherings wax and wane as various participants change life situations, add to the family, move away, etc., but there's always a crowd and always good fellowship, and always ever-so-much good stuff to eat.