Texas Beer, Texas Dog

I lived in Round Rock, Texas from October of 1998 to September 12, 2001 (one never forgets where one was on 9/11).

While I was there, I grew to love wild flowers, minor league baseball, and Shiner Bock. The Tex-Mex was to die for, the people were friendly, and live music was everywhere. Some of the best we heard was at Joe's Generic Bar on 6th. The summer heat was unbearable for this northern gal and in the summer I spent as little time as possible outside -- but I did enjoy wearing shorts on Christmas. Quite the novelty.

I'd been there about a year and a half when I decided to adopt a second dog. I scanned the papers and read an ad for a lab-mix, free to good home. The folks I adopted him from said I was the third person who had come to look at him but I was the first person he walked right up to and started licking*. So, I took my boy home and shortened his name from Rusty to Russ - because having an orange dog named Rusty was just too...obvious, I guess.

ANYway. Russ will have been with me for nine years this August.

What's your point, you ask? Why the huge adoption story? It's because when I was at the grocery store last night, S found a six pack of Shiner Bock (!!!) which is hard to find in Michigan. The flood-gate opened and I've been thinking of Texas. So I thought I'd reminisce a bit here.

And share a photo with you...

Two of my favorite things from Texas.

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*They failed to tell me that he had been shot with a pellet gun recently (my blood boils when I think about that) and that I should keep an eye out for infection. I discovered that on my own about two weeks later when he developed a huge pus pocket on his side - and it leaked!