I was stringing up the Christmas lights on the house this morning and I needed a ladder so I went over to finally introduce myself to the elderly couple next door and ask to borrow theirs. Sarah likes to hang out there during the day and Mr. Bergstrom (that’s his name as I found out) seems to really like having her around. He told me that he has never seen another cat like her. By that he meant one that liked people so much as she does. I told him that she’s pretty popular in the neighborhood and has made a few friends. One of the neighbors lets her in to nap with her on her recliner.
He told me a lot of neat things, and I really enjoyed speaking with him. Apparently, he was in the air force during the war (WWII) and was actually born here in Austin out near Anderson Lane when that was out in the boonies. Now it’s just known as North Austin. I told him about how I had lived for a while out near Copeland and Rice’s Crossing which is near Hutto where he graduated from high school, and I mentioned something about how I remembered Hutto as having water known for its saltiness. He said they used to call it Pluto Water.
He worked at UT for many years doing hand-lettering for all the signs and even the football scoreboards for each game where they would need to have the name of the opposing team painted onto it. This explains the hand-painted signs he has attached to the shed outside his house. One of them says ‘No Parking’ even though there is no place to park anywhere nearby.