After Rain

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In my world, it has been raining for two days straight. This is mostly awesome, unless the heavy rains try their best to wake you up in the middle of the night. Luckily, one of my super powers is sleeping.

As a result of the heavy rains, the San Gabriel River is flowing strongly. While walking this evening, I took a few photos to give you an idea of what things looked like. I will also leave you with a quote to think about.

β€œWhen you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” ― Rumi

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Samaras

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I liked the following description from the Native Plant Society of Texas (I hope I have the correct tree).

“The fruits are flat, circular and papery wafer-like samaras. They occur in drooping clusters, are retained well into winter and wave in the wind with an audible rattle.”

The samara has a flattened wing of papery tissue that allows the wind to carry the seed. As it turns out, it also allows for nice photos at sunset near the 3/4 mile marker on some walking path. πŸ™‚

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SiriusXM

So back in October when I got a new (to me) vehicle, it came equipped with a Sirius Satellite Radio. I was given a trial subscription, and all was good. Here are some of my favorite channels.

  • 52 “Electric Area” – Bigroom House & DJ Mixes
  • 51 “BPM” – Dance Hits
  • 122 “NPR Now” – NPR News & Conversation
  • 125 “SiriusXM Patriot” – Conservative Talk
  • 126 “SiriusXM Urban View” – African-American Talk

As you can tell, I like EDM and talk radio the most. Some other channels are cool also. On long road trips, I just flip through all the music, lingering on a channel for a few songs and then moving to the next musical genre so I can stay awake.

My trial subscription is done and I found a deal where you pay six dollars a month for six months. That’s cool, but after that it goes up to something like 18 dollars a month – that’s not cool. For that kind of money I could buy about ten songs a month, and make my own radio station on the iPod touch. Oh well, I’ll worry about that in July. For now you will see me rocking out to EDM or nerding out to Talk Radio as I cruise through Texas with a few dollars less to spend on Slurpees and stuff.

Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church

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My second walk back into history today was the Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church. Church was happening as I walked by and took a few photos, and I could clearly hear the sermon through the open side windows. Discover some more Clarksville history and ponder the Austin story of gentrification if you are interested.

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Haskell House – History

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I woke up this morning and started reading an interesting story about Austin, “Austin’s history of discrimination threatens its future”. It got me to thinking about the gentrification that is happening all around us. It led me to visit a few historic sites in the Clarksville District of Austin. My first stop this morning was the Hezikiah Haskell House. If you have the time, and are interested, read a little about the history.

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