For so much of our time here, the shore east of the Statesman has been close to deserted — bramble and brush, inaccessible. Now on a springlike Sunday afternoon we can’t count the numbers. There are buskers with their guitar cases open, street performers and their jello legs. Personal trainers lead clients in deep lunges against the railing above the water, and at Joe’s Crab Shack, a Stevie Ray-modeled band jams. The music carries. We think New York City. We think Venice Beach boardwalk. We were here first, we joke, as we walk through the crowds. Still, there is a quiet spot on the dock. Paddlers, standing and seated, float by. Dogs. Children in life jackets. Austin is alive on a sunny February day. So are we.

February 8, 2015