I mentioned last week that I would be taking a couple of days off from my day-job to spend with my wife and daughter as they went around and did things. I mentioned, too, that I might make some account of what happened when I was with them. I try to suit my deeds to my words, in token of which, the following:

On Wednesday, a week ago, my wife, Ms. 8, a friend of hers, and I drove into Austin to visit the Texas State Cemetery. It is a relatively modestly sized piece of land, placed around State Highway 165 between Navasota and Comal, 7th and 11th, and it is not full; there is still plenty of open space waiting to accept the honored dead of the Lone Star State. But there are many such dead entombed or otherwise memorialized on the grounds, though I was surprised that President Houston is not among them; the last person (so far) to walk on the moon, Capt. Gene Cernan (a Chicago native but sometime resident of Kerrville), is, as are many late governors of the state (including the often-missed Ann Richards). I found myself moved by some of the displays there, which is fitting enough.

Thursday had us take care of a few errands; there are some things that can’t be done on a weekend in a small town, and since we already had the time off scheduled, it made sense to address them when we did. Friday, though, we made our way back to Austin–my wife, Ms. 8, her friend, and I. (Now, normally, outside of tax season, I’m off on Fridays; I don’t open the office. But given that I’d taken a couple of days off for family, I think I can count it.). There, we toured the Museum of Illusions. It was a decent enough time, although I think I prefer Seismique in Houston, which we visited a few years back; a lot of it has to do with the fact that many of the installations at the Museum of Illusions require filtering through cameras, such that my wife comments it ought to be renamed the Museum of the Hyperreal.

From there, we visited Purrfecto Cat Lounge, spending half an hour in which I drank a lukewarm cup of not-good coffee while my wife, my daughter, and her friend reveled in the attentions of several cats. One snuggled in to sleep on my wife, while my daughter collected a cuddle-puddle of four cats, and her friend got to pet several others. My shoe came under assault by one frisky kitten, but only briefly; other game attracted its attention soon after.

After, we put in at Freddo, about which my wife had learned while looking for things to do with our daughter. The business is hosted in a Victorian-era home that was, when moved from its original location near the Texas Capitol, the largest house to have been moved (or so I am told); the building is beautiful, and the grounds are commodious despite the busyness of the intersection where they stand. The food was pretty good, too, which is always a help, and my wife and I got the joy of a brief conversation with some people traveling through. So that was nice.

In all, it was a decent use of time. Getting back to something like the usual routines after has taken some doing, as might be thought, but it’s nice to have had a little bit of time away from them.

You know that you can get some of this writing for your very own, right?

Or you can send your support along directly!