Island

There is an island in the Colorado - Town Lake - Ladybird Lake. Some call it Snake Island, but some call it Hobo Island, and many do not speak of it because it is a secret place, lawlessly remote, in the middle of downtown. If Austin were a painting, the island is an unpainted spot, where you can see the canvas. Being there feels like trespassing.

google maps, present day

Im going to try to publish something about this place, at the risk of fucking up someone’s magic, and this blog will be about the process of getting interested, finding a focus, changing my focus, researching, and indulging myself. Things you read here could be wrong, but Ill do my best not to state interesting ideas as truth, but I will also avoid turning this into a search for facts. Im after the elusive and magical feeling of this place and its place in Austin’s culture and counter culture. That feeling is changing. The hike and bike goes right by it now and in the summer the SUP boards proliferate like bacteria. Austin is like my favorite bar at 2am and someone is gradually raising the lights on a dimmer.

The island is big enough to walk around on and not be sure you are alone. There are tall trees but they are Ash, Box Elder, Hackberry… fast growers that decline to imply the age of the place beyond 30~ years. Did Karankawa camp here and watch game in the river basin? For how long have people visited here?