Motorbike Ride Back to Kerrville = Pizza

Michael

Erin and I recently went to the Kerrville Folk Festival, courtesy Trevor and some free passes he gave us.  To beat the hill country heat, Trevor and I found our way to a quasi-secret swimming hole on a spectacular stretch of the Medina River.

I had told Erin I wouldn’t be gone too long, but plans at Kerrville can be a little bit unpredictable, and I ended up being gone for hours.  The lady who drove us didn’t seem too intent on leaving any time soon, so I hitched a ride with this guy Michael, who was heading back to the festival on his motorbike. I promised him free pizza in return.

I knew less about Michael Durbin than I did any of my other pizza guests.  He took an interest in my work at the capitol with Rep. Allen, since he spent every Friday this legislative session as the driving force behind HB 806, which passed and will make insurance companies cover costs associated with prosthetic devices (he has a prosthetic foot).

Michael lives in a somewhat communal setting in far south Austin, with eight or nine other folks.  Everybody pitches in on group tasks like gardening, but they have their own dwellings.  One of the residents is a renowned green dome builder, and I gathered that most of the buildings there are his design.

Last year in Vietnam I messed up my knee by crashing a scooter.  I needed stitches from the local Vietnamese hospital (I was near Sapa, by the Chinese border), and have studiously avoided motorbikes ever since.  When I learned that Michael’s ride was being offered via motorbike, I was a little nervous, but I became relatively comfortable after a few minutes.

He delivered me back to the festival safely, and I delivered him pizza.  I love my life.