Out of Austin

Today was full of emotion as we bid farewell to Austin, TX, and the friends we have made over the past 11 months.  My sabbatical host ordered the famous Franklin Barbeque for a farewell lunch (http://franklinbarbecue.com/).  It was quite yummy.  In my brief thank-you comments I pointed out how knowing one has only a short time in a place is a very potent motivator to dig in both at work and play to maximize the experience - and that one really does not know just how long one will be at a particular place.  Karen and the girls picked me up in the afternoon and we made it to Sweetwater, TX, (east of Abilene) at about sunset. Sweetwater bills itself as "Windmill Capital, USA", and just south of town is the most extensive wind farm any of us have ever seen - and we drove through the middle of it - very cool! Just saw the ridge far behind our hotel.  Most of the windmill flashers are sychronized to blink together, which is very impressive when all those lights come on at once. Another cool thing about the area is that we are on the edge of the famous Texas Permian red beds - noted for all sorts of fossils like dimetrodon (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimetrodon).