ON THE WAY TO NETROOTS

Getting to Netroots has been interesting. I lived in Austin while attending the University of Texas. There is a lot to do down here. I couldn't resist a few detours.

First I went to visit my mom in Corpus Christi. She has a way of being a bit terse and upset when I wake her up in the wee hours of the morning to go watch the sun come up at the beach. That wears off quickly as the light breaks into the new day. I found it important to torture her again that way. While visiting her, I picked up a gift from my aunt. She had painted me a picture of a psychedelic roster. The weather was great there and it was hard to say goodbye but I knew more lay ahead.

I made it to Austin on Saturday morning and fumbled around the new airport wasting money parking at the wrong terminal. I had picked up a flight from VivaAerobus. They had flights that were so cheap I expected to actually be mailed over instead of seated like a human. It turns out they have a fantastic service that easily rivals Southwest Airlines or American Airlines. Be advised however, if leaving from Austin you have to head to the South Terminal. If you show up early, it's right next to Mckinney falls state park.

Once in Mexico we landed in Escobedo not far from Sienega de Flores where too much conversation and food took place. The resulting hangover made decision making hard the next day. Our failed attempts at logic found me on top of a contraption with chairs mounted 14 feet above street level. My cousin and I drove around taking pictures. We passed one small site where Blue Agave was in its infancy. It's like a tequila nest. We made it around the plaza too and found a huge flag next to the city cathedral.

That flag at the plaza was tiny compared to the one I saw across the street from a school yard. This flag was easily half the size of a football field and was hoisted above a peak placing it in view of much of the city of Monterrey.

After that and some more debauchery elsewhere, I separated one day to spend some time by myself at Rancho La Luna. Rollis took me then left after lunch. I really like him because of how well he talks about my godfather and he's taught me a lot about what to expect when our own government gets too much power over people. We talked for a while and contrasted our experiences. We have it pretty good here but we are definitely in for some shocking times if we keep eroding our civil liberties. I'll leave that unhappy topic for now....

I took a few pictures of some of the thousands of Blue Agave my cousin planted after he found out I wanted to retire and learn how to distill Tequila. Those fields make me very happy.

Anyway, I'm registered here in Austin for Netroots. I'll be trying to take notes and pass on some reflections of what I find here. The goodie bag was cool. I got a great ActBlue bottle opener that I promise to use often. There was also a Dennis Kucinich inspired pocket Constitution that I will treasure forever. And I got a small "protect your constitution" condom from the Center for Constitutional Rights. They should get magnum size. That's what I think.