Hole in the Fence

We’ve arrived. And Austin has welcomed us with open arms. There are a lot of very nice people here, from the woman who drew up a list of must-see places to the man who gave us a parking pass with time remaining, we have seen the generous side of Austin people.

Today we saw the cool side of Austin’s museums. Our first (and my favorite) stop was the Nature and Science Center. We arrived early and milled around until it opened at noon. While we were waiting I took some photos of the neat exhibits and the gorgeous flowers on the path leading to the center.

Once the doors opened we walked into a little hands-on natural history museum that was thoughtfully geared towards kids. Nearly everything could be touched and examined. There were rocks, bones, and fossils. (Oh my!) And even an exchange system whereby kids could bring in certain items, accrue points, and eventually have enough points to purchase things like a giant Ammonite fossil. Totally cool.

Then I saw the “grow green” poster and pamphlets on the wall.

I nearly fainted. I’m a green geek, what can I say? If they had a greencom I’d be there the night before sleeping on the concrete at the entrance.

Seriously, though, LOOK at these materials. Are they not completely drool-worthy?

They also have full-color guides that list native and adapted plants and give you an  slew of information on traits and care.

This is some seriously cool schwag. I really think SLO would want to take a look at how Austin has put this together. Given that it was a collaborative project between the city and the University of Texas, I think SLO would have no trouble working this out!