Tag: hitchhiking

Bicentennial

Bicentennial (Part 4, The Road)

—The Obscure Penguin— On Independence Day, 1976, I woke up to the smell of piss under a sprawling oak. I was in a city park in Gonzales, where the first shots were fired in 1836 in the Texas Revolution.  A rock dug into my shoulder and a root poked into my back.  I wondered how […]

Bicentennial

Bicentennial (Part 3, The Concert)

—The Obscure Penguin— The band was funky.  Funky country.  A bit like Little Feat.  In later years I thought maybe it was Delbert McClinton, but I never found evidence he was there that day.  Rodney and I found a small depression of dirt not far from the stage and staked our claim.  It was hot […]

Bicentennial

Bicentennial (Part 2, Austin Chic)

—The Obscure Penguin— On July 3rd, 1976 about 8 in the morning Rodney and I were hoofing it in Austin, heading south on Lamar. The mechanic had told us the street would eventually branch and we were to take the Guadalupe side all the way to 29th and turn right. Oat Willie’s was there and […]

Bicentennial

Bicentennial (Part 1, Thumbs Out)

—The Obscure Penguin— This July 4th will be the 41st anniversary of my journey to see the Willie Nelson 4th of July picnic in Gonzales, Texas, 1976.  I’ve always appreciated the fact I was “on the road,” like Jack Kerouac, on the nation’s bicentennial, the birthday of the Declaration of Independence, and the day began […]