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Authors: Kinky Friedman
Tags: Fiction
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So why did I allow myself to get soaked to the bone at a Girl Scout car wash in the first place? Just lucky, I guess. And lucky is the right word for it. Most of us were born lucky. Lucky to have a home and a family. Lucky to have someone to provide hills to climb and stars to reach for. Lucky, when we fell, to have a catcher waiting in the rye. The girls at the car wash, of course, have known precious little of those things. Outside of Julia and Darlene, all they really have is each other. Maybe it will be enough. I certainly hope so. As we like to say in rock and roll, the kids are all right.
The Great Outdoors
BY NOW YOUâVE DONE THE NIGHT LIFE, HAD SOME chow, maybe spotted a few famous Austinites. Youâre probably ready to take in Austinâs great outdoors. Well, hop onto my pet beer belly and let me show you whatâs out there.
First stop is a 351-acre Austin favorite, Zilker Park, located at 2100 Barton Springs Road. Zilker (as it is called by the locals), was named in honor of Andrew Jackson Zilker, who bet on the classic American dream and hit a jackpot. When he was only eighteen, he moved from Indiana to Austin with a mere fifty cents to his name. His first night in town, he got a job washing dishes. Soon after, he got a job constructing the Congress Avenue Bridge and made friends with the owner of an ice plant who later hired him. Olâ Andrew didnât let any grass grow under his feet. During this time he was a volunteer fireman, director of the First National Bank, Water and Light commissioner, and head of the Travis County School Board. It wasnât long before he became the engineer of the ice plant, and in 1901 he began buying land between the Colorado River and Barton Creek. He acquired 350 acres surrounding Barton Springs and used the land to pasture the livestock that pulled his ice wagons.
Zilker deeded thirty-five acres around Barton Springs to the city of Austin in 1918, with the provision that the land be used for education. During the First World War, a military school was established on the grounds. In 1932 he agreed to give the military an additional 330 acres if the city would buy the acreage from the school for $200,000. The purchase was approved in a bond election, and despite the economic depression of the 1930s, the land was developed into Zilker Park. Present-day Zilker Park is the jumping-off point for so many of Austinâs outdoor activities that it is hard to decide where to start. I would suggest starting at Barton Springs Pool.
Located at 2101 Barton Springs Road within Zilker Park, Barton Springs Pool has been used by people living here since Christ was a cowboy; measuring three acres in size and fed from three underground springs, it is also the largest natural swimming pool in the United States within an urban area (a bit of trivia: Robert Redford learned to swim at Barton Springs Pool when he was five years old while visiting his motherâs relative in Austin).
Barton Springs Pool (also simply called âBarton Springsâ by the locals) got its name from an early Texas settler named William Barton. âUncle Billy,â as he was known, built his cabin on a tract of land that included three springs. This area became known as âthe Bartons.â He named the three springs after his daughters, Parthenia, Eliza, and Zenobia. The largest spring (Parthenia) is now the main spring that feeds Barton Springs Pool. Eliza Springs issues from a cavelike sinkhole on the north bank near the lower end of the pool; Zenobia Springs flows above the shallow end. Some parts of the pool are colder than others (perhaps where the ghosts of drowned swimmers lurkâI worked as a lifeguard here). The warmest part of the pool is in the shallow end where a legion of little children practice synchronized urination.
No description of Barton Springs Pool would be complete without mentioning the endangered Barton Springs salamander. In 1998
So why did I allow myself to get soaked to the bone at a Girl Scout car wash in the first place? Just lucky, I guess. And lucky is the right word for it. Most of us were born lucky. Lucky to have a home and a family. Lucky to have someone to provide hills to climb and stars to reach for. Lucky, when we fell, to have a catcher waiting in the rye. The girls at the car wash, of course, have known precious little of those things. Outside of Julia and Darlene, all they really have is each other. Maybe it will be enough. I certainly hope so. As we like to say in rock and roll, the kids are all right.
The Great Outdoors
BY NOW YOUâVE DONE THE NIGHT LIFE, HAD SOME chow, maybe spotted a few famous Austinites. Youâre probably ready to take in Austinâs great outdoors. Well, hop onto my pet beer belly and let me show you whatâs out there.
First stop is a 351-acre Austin favorite, Zilker Park, located at 2100 Barton Springs Road. Zilker (as it is called by the locals), was named in honor of Andrew Jackson Zilker, who bet on the classic American dream and hit a jackpot. When he was only eighteen, he moved from Indiana to Austin with a mere fifty cents to his name. His first night in town, he got a job washing dishes. Soon after, he got a job constructing the Congress Avenue Bridge and made friends with the owner of an ice plant who later hired him. Olâ Andrew didnât let any grass grow under his feet. During this time he was a volunteer fireman, director of the First National Bank, Water and Light commissioner, and head of the Travis County School Board. It wasnât long before he became the engineer of the ice plant, and in 1901 he began buying land between the Colorado River and Barton Creek. He acquired 350 acres surrounding Barton Springs and used the land to pasture the livestock that pulled his ice wagons.
Zilker deeded thirty-five acres around Barton Springs to the city of Austin in 1918, with the provision that the land be used for education. During the First World War, a military school was established on the grounds. In 1932 he agreed to give the military an additional 330 acres if the city would buy the acreage from the school for $200,000. The purchase was approved in a bond election, and despite the economic depression of the 1930s, the land was developed into Zilker Park. Present-day Zilker Park is the jumping-off point for so many of Austinâs outdoor activities that it is hard to decide where to start. I would suggest starting at Barton Springs Pool.
Located at 2101 Barton Springs Road within Zilker Park, Barton Springs Pool has been used by people living here since Christ was a cowboy; measuring three acres in size and fed from three underground springs, it is also the largest natural swimming pool in the United States within an urban area (a bit of trivia: Robert Redford learned to swim at Barton Springs Pool when he was five years old while visiting his motherâs relative in Austin).
Barton Springs Pool (also simply called âBarton Springsâ by the locals) got its name from an early Texas settler named William Barton. âUncle Billy,â as he was known, built his cabin on a tract of land that included three springs. This area became known as âthe Bartons.â He named the three springs after his daughters, Parthenia, Eliza, and Zenobia. The largest spring (Parthenia) is now the main spring that feeds Barton Springs Pool. Eliza Springs issues from a cavelike sinkhole on the north bank near the lower end of the pool; Zenobia Springs flows above the shallow end. Some parts of the pool are colder than others (perhaps where the ghosts of drowned swimmers lurkâI worked as a lifeguard here). The warmest part of the pool is in the shallow end where a legion of little children practice synchronized urination.
No description of Barton Springs Pool would be complete without mentioning the endangered Barton Springs salamander. In 1998
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