Trees, Part 2

When we first moved to Austin, I kept telling Rich I was surprised how green it was. He'd remind me that my stereotypical view of Texas came from the Western flicks I'd seen, most of which were filmed in Southern Utah. Nearly every major road I drove down was lined with scrubby evergreen trees called juniper trees. I later found out these trees, better knows as cedar trees, are the evil purveyors of the dreaded cedar allergy fever that hits Austin, ironically, every winter just when the weather is perfect—but that's beside the point.

Ten years later, my little suburb in the country no longer looks very green. But now we are the proud owners (and users) of a Wal-Mart, a toll road, Target, Hobby Lobby, Einstein Bagels, a chic little sushi bar, IKEA, an outlet mall, a giant events center, and two new giant high schools. My favorite new addition to our suburb-turned-city is our very own weekly farmer's market, which is about two miles away from our house and will be accessible by bicycle once they complete the trail that will hug the new toll road. Oh, and Schlitterbahn is coming to town next year!

The tree hugger in me misses the trees, replaced by loads of concrete, rows of identical houses, and more and more cars. The gardener in me is mad that the beautiful deer no longer have anything to eat except my humble little vegetable garden.

But the American consumer in me cannot deny the fact that I really like my Wal-Mart (I tried unsuccessfully to boycott it when it came to town), all that great shopping, and most of all that awesome new farmer's market. I'm happy to see that our little hick town is become oh-so-much more cosmopolitan.