When in Austin, use a sheet

One of Kerry and my favorite stories is from our first trip together to Austin, many moons ago. We spent the night with friend who was spending the summer at one of UT's co-op houses. Said house was not air-conditioned, so it was about 90 degrees in the room we were sharing, with zero air circulation. Further, our friend gave us a mattress to sleep on. A mattress: no sheets, no pillows. Suffice it to say, we did not sleep well. We stopped trying at about 4 or 5 in the morning - remember, we were college-aged, so that was the equivalent of giving up on sleep at about midnight these days - and went out driving, looking for someplace with air-conditioning and food, in that order of importance. (Happily, the place we found, completely by accident, was the Star Seeds Cafe, an Austin landmark with enormous, fluffy pancakes and a thermostat set for the last ice age.)

There's a clear lesson here, and as many times as Kerry and I have told this story - many long-time Hollerer readers no doubt know who our host was that summer long ago - you would think we would have learned the lesson: when in Austin, use a sheet on your bedding. Alas, even those who know history are sometimes doomed to repeat it. While visiting Scott and Carlie at their new home in Austin this weekend, Owen's been using their portable crib, which we found set up without a sheet. The past three days, he hasn't slept particularly well, often waking up sweaty. We had attributed this to his trying to sleep in a strange place and wrestling with an illness. But last night, Kerry suggested we get a sheet. It turns out a sheet had been intended for the crib and was missing quite by accident. The sheet is on, it's now 0630, and it's the first time Owen has slept past 0500 this trip.

(It should go without saying that the air-conditioning has been working the whole time.)

Ed. note: Kerry read this and said, "This makes us sound like bad parents." Erm. She also notes that we had asked if we needed to bring crib bedding. Having been told "no", she says that when she saw the port-a-crib, she thought it had a special kind of mattress that didn't need a sheet.