I’ve started taking Maggie on long walks. We’ve watched enough Cesar Milan and read enough articles that we know a well-behaved dog is a tired dog. One day I’m certain I’ll take her on a walk that might actually achieve this.

On our trek, I see ladies pushing strollers, lots of cyclists, kids on skateboards, and plenty of other dog walkers. We’re a very doggy/kiddie neighborhood. There’s some traffic, but the only heavy traffic is at rush hour.

This is a core neighborhood called Allandale. It was one of the first “northern” neighborhoods built in Austin. “Dazed and Confused” was filmed here — and it still has that period flavor to it. We’re not going to wow anyone with our fabulous bungalow Mission-style homes. These are late-50s, early 60s tract houses.

We even have our very own “dead” mall: Northcross Mall. Northcross is home to one of two ice skating rinks in town and it also has a Guitar Center, a place The Dude knows all too well, and a number of other businesses. There have been attempts to renovate the property over the years, but none that was exceptionally successful. However, there have been lots of small, neighborhood-centric locally-owned businesses opening over the last few years around Northcross. They’ve done well here.

The owner of Northcross Mall has made a deal with Wal-Mart to put in a 24-hour, 220,000 square foot Wal-Mart Superstore. This is, to put it mildly, cluster fuckage for Allandale and about six other surrounding neighborhoods on a pretty epic level.

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Well, most of the snow has melted (though we might get some flurries tonight and tomorrow) but on New Years Eve when we were driving around in it, Laura’s cousin took the photo below. We all said, “Well, look at that dog–that’s no dog!” It’s Maureen’s favorite animal, looking for a roadrunner.

(Click on the picture to see a larger shot.)

… can be found here.