Week in Review – March 22, 2020

“Stir-crazy”

The word of the day from dictionary.com this week sums things up nicely – “Stir Crazy”. After three days of both working from home in our Austin apartment, we decided that some more space would be a good idea, and so drove up to McKinney on Thursday. The roads were quiet, particularly through the log jam that is typically Waco on I-35, and we made good time.

We settled in to watch the Luck Reunion concert that would typically take place at Willie Nelson’s ranch, but this year was through a live stream broadcast. The lineup was excellent and nicely varied.

I particularly enjoyed Nathaniel Rateliff and highly recommend his new solo album. Then the finale by Willie and his sons, Lukas and Micah, was quite something. Here are a few jittery videos I made from the TV since this particular live stream wasn’t saved for future viewing. Thanks Amy for letting us know this concert was on. We had been watching a different stream from Gordy Quist’s (Band of Heathens) kitchen table and then switched over to watch this one. Such a great way to be able to contribute to the musicians while they’re not able to perform live.

Rye, our favourite downtown McKinney restaurant, got creative quickly and was offering a choice of three meal kits to take home and cook. This is a great way for them to keep the place open and to keep ordering from their farmers and other suppliers. We picked up a blue corn chilaquiles kit and used it to cook both dinner on Friday and brunch on Saturday. The mushrooms, tomatilla sauce, creme fraiche, and all the other ingredients were so fresh and delicious, and I learned a new brunch recipe. Oh, there was a langiappe from the Rye visit, Diana ordered me a quart of their excellent barrel aged Vieux Carre cocktail to go, and surprised me with one as I was cooking. Thanks McD! This cocktail was originally created at the Carousel Room of the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans around 1930.

Neighbours at the Catherine took these pictures of the Fairmont hotel paying tribute to Austin, Texas (ATX). I really like this gesture from an almost empty hotel, struggling like all in the hospitality business.

Saturday morning was quiet with nowhere to go for our normal workout followed by coffee and crossword routine. We watched a live stream concert by Anders Osborne from his living room in New Orleans. He was totally new to the technology and approach, making the stream feel even more real and intimate. He was easily distracted with the comments streaming by, and at one point even changed a string on his dobro while continuing to chat away. His wife, Sarah, had her hands full keeping him focused and organized. I highly recommend this live stream that you can find on Facebook for a sampling of this great musician’s work.

We walked to Zin Zen, our local wine bistro, to collect a take out Saturday dinner. Their ad had given us a chuckle earlier in the week – “free roll of toilet paper with all orders over $25”. It was nice to get some exercise while supporting a local small business. I really enjoy their fungi salad and shrimp flatbread.

Diana braved the grocery store on Sunday for some provisions. She reported that it’s not too crazy and the place is well organized. We’re currently shopping online for an elliptical machine for the house – not having a lot of luck but have a few places lined up to call tomorrow. I suspect a lot of folks are having the same idea with all the gyms being closed.

I’ve almost finished “Christmas in Austin” – the middle section has been a bit of a slog. There are so many family members to keep track off and the action has been pretty mundane. Hoping for some excitement in the last 150 pages.

I enjoyed the description of Central Market, an upscale H.E.B. grocery store – “a high-end local incarnation of an old local chain, arranged not in columns and rows but in a kind of snakes-and-ladders setup that forced you to follow the path from beginning to end” – so true, it’s a real pain to shop there until you get to know the layout.