My cousin Scott just sent me some transcripts from our great Aunt Dick’s diaries, which I’m planning to make a project out of sometime soon.  Just as a little sample, here is the entry for September 1, 1931:

Markie [Markham] raved about the depression, and how terrible times are; they’re going to have a special session of legislature this month to forbid the planting of cotton this fall*, and all the state employees salaries will be cut 15% or more.  Ruthy is simply sick about it, but she’s lucky to have a job at all, as it’s getting to where they just can’t be had.

Markie is a family friend and Ruthy is her sister.  They were living in Austin at the time and Ruth worked at the Capitol.

*UPDATE: The Handbook of Texas Online says that the Texas Cotton Acreage Control Act of 1931-32 was an effort to control the falling prices of cotton, due to overproduction, by limiting the amount of acreage being cultivated for cotton (not a complete ban) as well as to institute some soil conservation measures. This command-and-control-type measure was struck down in the courts in 1932.  I doubt the Texas Legislature of today would never do something like that!

My great-grandmother, Mabel Martin, whom I called “Granny,” was a big part of my early life, for which I am very thankful.  She was a piano teacher and to her I owe much of the limited ability I do have to appreciate music. When I was about 5 or 6 she came to live with us for awhile, but soon went to live in the nursing home near Live Oak and Congress.  There, I think she flourished, at least as best as could be expected, as I remember her being very active.  She was even named “queen” of the nursing home and went on to compete against other “nursing home queens,” showcasing her piano playing skills.  Above is a not-so-great Polaroid picture of her being congratulated by none other than Cactus Pryor, a living legend in Austin as a radio and TV personality.

After seeing the article about the Shady Grove RV park closing in yesterday’s Statesman, I desperately had to know if Pecan Grove RV Park was also slated for replacement by condos. Even though Barenakedfamily.com declared that this is “not your Grandma’s RV park,” my grandmother actually lived at Pecan Grove back in the ’90s. So I spent a fair amount of time getting to know her neighbors, who became some of her last true friends. Nana, as I call her, was definitely young at heart and didn’t like hanging out with most people her own age. And the RV park, right on Barton Springs Road, was perfect for her.

So today I went by to check and see if Pecan Grove was also in danger. According to the one resident I spoke with, the owners have no intention of selling anytime soon, but that is what then-Council Member Daryl Slusher told me about ten years ago about the owner of Shady Grove. So we’ll see.

Status Quo vs. Change
Having lived in and around Austin most of my life, I definitely have mixed feelings about the pace and face of change, like the conversion of a cool, beautiful RV park full of lovely pecan trees to very expensive condos. I’d rather people not buy into the new developments that have only increased the need for more and bigger highways. I know that real estate has gotten more and more expensive in the central city because more people want to live there. It’s unfortunate that people of limited means, including the artists and musicians that make Austin wonderful, have fewer and fewer places they can afford to live. What’s to be done? I don’t know.

In this blog, I’m going to explore Austin’s change, which doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Stay tuned.