Lady. Bird.

AKA “Ladybird, “Bird”, “Her Nibs”, “Claudia”…

If your name is Christina and you live in California, you might be called Christy, but it wont go much further than that. Here in the more-or-less South, nicknames can obliterate your name. It can be primitive random sounds, like Bubba, or a native american style name, like Ladybird. The name is trans-human, reflecting her status as a deity, yet harmless. In Texan mythology she represents simple, brute force purity. A childlike desire for pretty things contrasting with the carnage of war and the social chaos of the time. The Town Lake Beautification project has a “Let them eat cake” ring to it.

We are still eating that cake. The path around the lake is the heart of Austin. Its a big, beautiful public space that gives Austin its reputation for physical fitness and natural beauty. Best of all, it's an idea that scales. Spurs to the trail following the creeks coming from town have been developed, like the Shoal Creek path to the gorgeous new Central Library. Such investment into public space makes this town feel utopian at times. The extension of the main trail down to Longhorn Dam took forever and cost a lot but the long pier is like flying over the water with unceasing views up and down the river.

The story goes like this: Ladybird was in London with Mrs. Butler, the wife of the mayor of Austin. As they were strolling along the Thames, Ladybird is said to have asked Mrs. B if perhaps, it might be possible to have some sort of walking path like this in Austin??? Surely they could convince rich men to pay for something pretty for a change. The story feels like the 1950s’ but this happens in ‘71, so Nixon is in the white house, the war in VietNam is being lost, American leaders have been assassinated, things were falling apart. Crude oil production in the US was peaking due to a second oil boom here in Texas but OPEC was about to embargo us. The men were busy doing serious and ugly things and everyone needed a big unicorn chaser. Beauty costs money and money comes from parties so they threw a fundraiser at the LBJ Ranch.

LBJ & Ladybird were a good cop bad cop team, with Ladybird doing a lot of heavy lifting. One time, LBJ pissed off a reporter durring an important interview. Ladybird pursued the reporter, a young Dan Rather, across Austin in a low speed car chase, pulled his ass over, and pursuaded him to come over for punch. PUNCH. She ran LBJ’s congressional office when he went to war, managed their investments and media empire, and LBJ himself as much as she could. Was Ladybird really the harmless and charming counterpart to LBJ’s legendary asshole powerbroker, or was she secretly his spine, as so many power couple Beta’s seem to be? I don’t know, but when LBJ died three months before the party, it didn’t seem to slow things down or change anyone’s plans. They say she persuaded a small airline to shuttle oil barons from Houston. Today the park is Butler Park, after that Austin power couple. The lake is Ladybird Lake, her nickname at last obliterating even that of her husband.

50 years later, the trees are big enough to shade the path, and the once industrial river basin is a pleasant five mile loop around a lake, not much like the Thames, but quite nice. A lot of people use it and it has grown East, down to the Longhorn dam and they are reviewing designs for a new pedestrian bridge to avoid the narrow sidewalk across the dam where cyclists and strollers must go single file beside heavy traffic.

proposed utopian pedestrian bridge

Oracle is on the Southern shore and a hipster bedroom community is gentrifying the North side. Between them lies the island, impassive and untouched. Like a man in standing in a bar room brawl with his hands in his pockets. Like a ghost at a crowded party. An inverted navel hidden under Austin’s beltline. Most people don’t see it, but I fear they will, and they will have plans for it.

Next, “Unimaginable Amounts of Money”