My daughter Emily and I dropped in to witness the Eeyore's Birthday Party after our Saturday shopping in downtown Austin. In 6 years of living here, I have never been to this event, which has been an Austin tradition for 20+ years. Our visit lasted 15 minutes......we had to get home to take care of some chores. I wanted to stay longer. There was great people watching and a beer tent with all the local, micro breweries set up including Live Oak, Independence, and Real Ale from Blanco, Texas.
This scene in Austin reminded me of the "Be-ins" and Earth Day that used to be organized on Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park in my home town of Philadelphia when I was in College. They were light hearted, fun gatherings of hippies and all manner of free spirits just hanging out having a good time and enjoying each others company. Always very amusing. Especially some of the characters that would parade themselves around the venue. A circus without the tent or admission fees.
My 9 year-old daughter found the scene amusing and somewhat silly. Although she did not have much to say while we were walking around the park, she gave a very detailed report to her mother later in the day about all the unusual people she saw. It was not her "cup of tea", but another experience with Dad for her journal.
Eeyore's birthday brought back some memories of my mis-spent College days......for about 15 minutes. Probably a good thing....
This kind of event is what keeps Austin a unique, bohemian, and free-spirited city. In a culture at risk of vanilla uniformity and conformity, these off- beat gatherings of free thinkers are a breath of fresh air.
Happy Birthday Eeyore! Many happy returns to Austin.
AHO
Richard
PS- The drum circle was just getting started when we arrived. This is a fun event. Sorry we could only check in for a few minutes.
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