I’ll note the anniversary of Apollo 11 here by linking to 10 years ago. Also, I was once the sort of lad who built a Saturn V model and had coloring books that I didn’t take that seriously.

But I did more than watch TV coverage or color or build models (I had a CM and LM set, too). I had books as well and I read them avidly, along with various editions of National Geographic. None was better on Apollo 11 (at least in memory) than Apollo: Lunar Landing by James J. Haggerty, published right after the event by Rand McNally, with a 1969 copyright.

Closer to the present, we had a hot old time in Austin on July 4 three years ago. I mean that literally. Even though we were out and about fairly early that morning — our goal was the now-closed Hope Outdoor Gallery, which we soon saw — temperatures rose quickly, as you’d expect during a Texas summer.

Before (after?) we went to the gallery, we spent a few minutes walking across the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge, which crosses Ladybird Lake (Colorado River) just east of the Lamar Boulevard Bridge. In full, it’s the James D. Pfluger Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge.

Though the heat was on, it was a nice walk across.
This is the Lamar Boulevard Bridge and activity under the bridge.

In the other direction, east, is downtown Austin and a railroad bridge with prominent graffiti.

“The bridge is named for Austin architect James D. Pfluger, who designed much of the city’s hike and bike trail system, including the ones on either side of Town Lake, which are now connected by the bridge,” the Daily Texan reported when the bridge was opened in 2001.

“The walkway will also honor cyclist Chris Kern and jogger Jack Slaughter, who were killed by motorists on the Lamar bridge. Kern died in 1991 after a drunk driver rear-ended his bicycle, and Slaughter died in February 2000 when he was struck and killed by a car.”

According to the story, Kern and Slaughter have a plaque on the bridge, but we must have missed it.