I Miss My Hometown
Mon 06 April 2026
Image of the Cactus Cafe, taken from Wikipedia
I went to a live music venue (really just a restaurant with a sizable enclosed patio and questionable sound system) with some family and friends a couple nights ago, and as we were sitting, sipping our drinks and waiting for the primary act to come onstage, a member of our party leaned over after glancing around and said, "This is a new experience for me." I replied, "Not for me. I grew up here."
Now, of course, I wasn't talking about that particular questionable venue, nor indeed the city we're in, as I've only lived here for a little over a decade, not counting a year-long stint in the 90s. I was talking about the experience of (pretty decent) live music at a venue near home, something which I very much took for granted growing up.
My parents were both college-educated (and indeed educators), and wanted to give me a pretty cultured upbringing, so they would take me with them whenever they went to hear live music, even at bars. Probably not a course of action I would necessarily recommend (bringing a child to bars and such), but I always felt safe and happy in those environments, and they never took me to places where the people were unruly.
I had the pleasure of listening to all kinds of artists, both relatively well-known and quite obscure. I grew up listening to Ed Miller and Utah Phillips both in person and on tape, and many others you haven't heard of (and for which there are no wikipedia articles ;)
Unlike the crowd a couple nights ago, the people we listened with were not particularly drunk, nor high (there really were all kinds of odd human behaviors on display that night 😅), but were there for the music, and to have a good time. Maybe it's just the blissful ignorance of a child, but I really can't remember anyone in those places we went to acting strange or cringey.
After the performance Saturday night, I looked up the band/artist and was surprised to learn that they were based out of Austin (which some people maddeningly persist in referring to as "ATX." 🙄). That connection made me think back to my upbringing in that town (long before it became so popular, and populous).
I thought about now somewhat forgotten Austin personalities like Cactus Pryor and Tim Ross (I recomend watching this video in mpv and using the "A" key to override the aspect ratio to 4:3 so people don't look stretched — I have no idea why people force 4:3 videos to 16:9, but anyway).
I was dismayed to learn recently that the Cactus Café (no relation to Mr. Pryor) was closed in 2010. I listened to many great artists in that place, particularly Ed Miller. I've also recently learned that you can't even get into the UT Student Union itself without a student/faculty ID or escort. When I was growing up, it was open for all, and it was a great place to hang out, listen to music, or play table shuffleboard or bowl. That only heightened my feeling of displacement, because every time I visit Austin, it's both familiar, and foreign. It's where I grew up, and yet, bears very little resemblance to the small college town I grew up in.
Well, I guess you really can't go home, but the best parts of home, you take with you. 😊
Category: Life Tagged: Beauty Entertainment Hobbies Life Music Non-religious post Non-technical post
Lars looking on wistfully while ingesting his sister-in-law's retort to his rant 
