My friend Kathy invited me to go hit Barton Springs after work. Given the horrible heat, even for Austin, I thought, yeah, sure. It’s way closer than my favorite watering hole, Hamilton Pool and it would be a mini-adventure.
Once we got past the bullshit parking for Blues on the Green, aka, a Blues concert for three old people and bunch of Boomers who think it’s like a deep cut of Eric Clapton’s crap. Fortunately, the attendant let us in for free as he could tell we had no interest. Then we had a little picnic since there was a no coolers policy. I have no recollection if this was new or not. I definitely had no remembrance of how damned cold the water is. I know Lake Michigan is painfully cold yet I figured the Colorado River supplying Barton Springs would be warmer given our daily highs cracking 100° F/40° C. HA! I had to take it in bit by bit versus how willing I am to just jump into a well-maintained pool. My brain also had big gaps about the slimy surface below too. Barton Springs is filled with “harmless” algae. The side we started on was fine. The other side I made it to, nope. It resembled somebody releasing the apple splatters in the water. Blech! A big brown spider on the wall didn’t help ease my concerns neither.
Overall, the experience isn’t terribly different than Lake Springfield when I lived there from 1979-82, algae and all. What’s the weird element. Hmm. I’m going with the two topless women present. Austin can be pretty libertine but I didn’t think it was legal here. It’s not exactly the EU here. I admit, they were brave and from what I could tell, they were being very matter-of-factly, good for them. I didn’t stare! I preferred to enjoy my sandwich while I was concerned about some creeps or immature boys staring. Besides, given how fat and out of shape I am (the indoor bike only helps my legs), it should be illegal for me to take off my shirt in public! Anything else to chalk up for weird? Barton Springs still had areas deeper than four feet and it uses duck decoys to mark the boundary for the diving board instead of buoys. I’m confident I could find more things to point out if I went there during a busy weekend.