the long haul in Austin

The hot, hyper-caffeinated Clover coffee burns my tongue, but on my day off I don’t mind. The chance to ease into a morning (or afternoon) is welcome after a week of jarring awakenings.

Back in Austin for a week now, the beginnings of routine are forming. Having jumped from Austin to Philadelphia to Minneapolis and back to Austin in the past two weeks, settling on one location, even one not home, is a relief. I should be here for at least another six weeks, hopefully long enough to attend South by Southwest in mid-March.

Challenges remain in Texas, but the situation here has improved dramatically since my last long stint, ending in late November. There are no longer families to be rescued, the emergency has ended, remaining are the nuanced challenges of recovery, those requiring expertise and forethought rather than logistics with haste. Explaining this difference, and the myriad rules that are guiding recovery remains problematic, but with ample time to work with reporters, progress is incremental but steady.