Austin…and You Will Know Us By The Trail of Abandoned Scooters
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to die of exposure in a major metropolitan area? If so, go to Austin, TX in August and you’ll find out real quick. My first trip to Austin was in 2007 for the National Poetry Slam. Most of the events were in the evening but there were a few scheduled during the day throughout the festival. I had mapped out a trip across the Congress St. Bridge to the club Antone’s for an event that started at 12pm. It was a brutal walk but manageable. The AC inside was blasting Arctic levels of cold and it made me forget about the heat. My dumbass should’ve gone back to the hotel but I decided to be a hipster and checkout a record store that was an additional half-mile or so away, not realizing that I was now a solid mile from the hotel. I attempted to walk back in the 2pm sun but the heat was debilitating. I’m not too proud to say that when the sprinklers in front of a downtown high rise went off, I dove into the low spraying streams. Another