A day of freedom took us north by northwest (or toward South Waco, as some say). After last night’s torrential downpours, the flows at the low-water crossings along the length of old Spicewood Springs Road were were nearly to the level of the roadway at some places. This is one of the most beautiful drives in Austin and delightful stops are Bull Creek Park and St. Edward’s Park. In these parks there’s very often solitude to be found and this was one of those days. The air was cool and sweet to the nostrils, the cedars were aromatic, the waters were rushing, the birds were singing, and there was no human-generated noise to be heard.

Today’s jaunt was really intended to be a dual quest. As part of our continuing round of exploration, we visited the Spicewood Springs library branch for the first time since the reopening. This facility is very pleasant indeed. It boasts quite a little collection of Hindi movies. And the Albertsons, our second destination, turned out to be within walking distance, including jumping over a small boggy area or two, thanks to last night’s rains.

We’ve been hearing that some would-be shoppers find it difficult to locate the entrance to the new Domain. We, however, arrived there entirely by mistake. We did not enter any buildings. It seems rather like a stage or movie set, one easy to exit stage whatever. Again lost, we dined at Sushi Sake rather than the intended Mikado, but I’m not complaining. It was at Mikado where tiny bright-red crabs once came to the table as part of an entree. Today, the dumplings at Sushi Sake tasted especially delicious. Even at two o’clock, there were still groups of guys taking long business lunches. With my lunch came a salad dressed in a gingery something that was very tasty and reminded me of the even better dressing of that sort on the giant salad at the Mimosa on Barton, now gone. Today was a treat, but it felt good to head southward.