Towering above it all

 This is the tallest building in downtown at this point -- 66 stories. 

The Reader

 This fellow hangs out in downtown Austin. 
He is usually reading a book or writing in a journal and never says a word to anyone else. . 

More tall buildings! Now!

Lots of office and residential buildings going up in downtown Austin. I hope that they can fill them.

 

Willie Nelson and His Guitar, Trigger

This statue of Willie Nelson is always a hit with visitors to town.
He calls his guitar Trigger. 

 

High Rise Rises

 The view from our balcony. This one will be 40-plus stories when done. 

SXSW Is A Colorful Event

You see lots of cool people in Austin during SXSW. This lady had on some neon colors. 

 

The Old Extended Stay

 This sixty-plus story building is on the site where the Extended Stay Hotel used to be. It looms large from a lot of angles. I shot this photo when we were walking south on Guadalupe the other day.
We call it "The Extended Stay" just to be able to ID it. 

Armadillo says hi

 That's me shaking hands with an armadillo on the pedestrian mall

between the State Capitol and the museum district. 

Walk on over!

Here is our fancy new pedestrian mall that extends from the state capitol to the museum district.
We enjoyed using our feet to go see a show the other day.
(This has been under construction for quite a while.)

Walking Home

Linda caught this shot of me as we headed home from a walk along South Congress the other day. That huge building under construction is on the site where an Extended Stay Hotel used to stand. So we call it, yes, "Old Extended Stay."

Oak is OK

 We had a serious ice storm here recently and Linda was worried that this mighty tree down the street night have suffered some damage. It came through just fine. Here you see me standing by it for scale. 

I can see my house from here!

 When we were at our friends' party Saturday night, I shot this photo from their balcony, looking back to the building where we live. It is the second tall edifice from the right. That is Republic Park in the foreground. During the pandemic, we would wave to each other from our balconies. The building at the far right with large dark areas is the Federal Courthouse. The cranes you see here are part of the construction project for a 44-story structure. 

Skyline is full of cranes

Our little town is certainly growing up. Supposedly we are close to being the tenth-largest city in the country now. Her you see the view from our balcony. I wish we could go out and enjoy some dining and clubs, but, oh well. 
 

A blast from the past

This was our view when we moved into our condo 12 years ago. I'll show you the current view tomorrow.  

Bats!

The bats under the Congress Avenue (Ann Richards) Bridge aren't practicing social distancing. My friend Mary captured this from her Rainey Street Condo. Her views are fantastic!

Saying hi in strange times

Some friends walked up to the top of the parking garage across the street to wave at us on a recent night.

Thanks to the responders!

The famed Thunderbirds made a flyover of Austin yesterday to pay tribute to the hardworking people on the front lines of the fight against the pandemic.

New Bird in Town

Sitting on the balcony and noticed a new (and very tall) crane up at the site of a building where a small hotel used to be.

Big Old Moon

Not a great picture because it was lazily snapped with my iPhone while drinking a Manhattan on the balcony. It was rising beside an office building under construction.

Day 41-Clouds Have It

This is how the Frost Bank and clouds looked at the end of our daily 'sit outside and observe' moments.