I’m a few days late in compiling my list of resolutions for the new year, but I’m giving myself a pass, considering how 2020 turned out.

With that mess clearly in the rear view mirror, I’m looking forward to 2021. I try to cover all areas of my life when I set yearly goals. I try to keep them attainable and at least some of them measurable. I like variety, so I usually include stuff that keeps me healthy and fit, personal goals and something wacky or unusual.

I had mixed results with last year’s list. My first book finally came out, I made it into Texas Monthly magazine with regularity, and I celebrated lots of things with friends, until the pandemic hit. I was on track to use less throwaway plastic utensils, cups and straws, too, but after March it seemed that practically everything was individually wrapped.

Due to the circumstances, I’m reconstituting a few of last year’s goals for 2021. Without further ado, my 2021 New Year’s resolutions:

1. GIVE A HOOT: I vow to pick up at least two pieces of trash every day. (In a related note, anyone who wants to join me can meet at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11, to pick up trash at the Pennybacker Bridge overlook. Email me at pamleblancadventures@gmail.com for details.)
2. FLY GIRL: I’m bringing back an old favorite – I’ll finish every swim practice I attend (and typically that’s five a week) with a 50-meter fly.

3. LESS TEQUILA: I’m cutting down on booze. I’m five days into Dry January (but plan to break for a brief toast on Inauguration Day.) Weekend cocktails are fine, but I’m done with the nightly glass of wine.
4. ANOTHER BOOK: I’m going to pitch at least two more book ideas to editors and agents.
5. ARCTIC EXPEDITION: Last year’s expedition with the Arctic Cowboys got postponed due to Covid, but I’m hoping to follow a trio of Austin paddlers this summer when they kayak through the Northwest Passage, and report about it for major media outlets.
6. READ ON: Something weird happened while I was hatching my own book – I forgot to read for pleasure. I’ll treat myself to at least one novel a month, unrelated to work, just for fun.
7. CELEBRATE: My happiest times are those I share with friends. Those times don’t have to be formal or fancy. I’ll invite people to backyard fire pit sessions, meet friends for coffee, and host more dinner parties (when it’s safe.) And I’m inviting people I admire but haven’t previously socialized with in a small group setting.
8. LOVE HONESTLY: I’m a passionate person, but sometimes I bottle stuff up inside. I’m sharing the love, unapologetically. Especially after the shit show we call 2020.
9. CAMP: In 2020, I spent 26 nights camping, including four nights under the stars during a rafting trip in Idaho, four nights on the Devils River, two nights in my backyard, and a handful of nights on swampy beaches along the Texas coast. If you tack on screened-in shelters and campervan overnights, the number is closer to 35. I’ll rack up even more nights in the wilderness in 2021.
10. BE HAPPY: I’ll once again do my best to wring happiness – or at least a little humor – out of every day.

The YMCA is offering a free six-week Reset Challenge that starts Feb. 1 and includes free online classes. Photo courtesy YMCA

Add the YMCA of Austin’s six-week Reset Challenge to the list of free fitness opportunities around Central Texas.

The program begins Feb. 1, and anyone can join by texting RESET to 866-943-9622.

Those who register will get three texts a week outlining challenges and workouts and offering motivation, plus access to virtual exercise classes. Even better, they get free access one day each week to any YMCA of Austin facility, where they can swim, work out or take an in-person classes.

Masks and social distancing are required at all YMCA of Austin gyms, which are operating at limited capacity.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has worn us down,” YMCA of Austin President and CEO James Finck said in a press release. “It’s isolated us in so many ways. This challenge provides an opportunity to get active and healthier by yourself, with neighbors or as a family.”

Virtual offerings include YMCA Live and On-Demand classes such as Zumba, yoga and HIIT. Children’s programming will also be available. The Reset Challenge will also include outdoor activities like pop-up classes, bike rides and nature walks.

For more information go to https://www.austinymca.org/Reset-Challenge-2021.

Chris LeBlanc takes in the sunset at the Pennybacker Bridge overlook on Jan. 3, 2020. Pam LeBlanc photo

I’ve lived in Austin most of my life, but until Sunday had never climbed to the overlook at the Pennybacker Bridge on Loop 360.

I made the steep walk up a pitifully eroded trail to reach the top, where I discovered a flat, rocky area with a nice view of Lake Austin. A small crowd had gathered to snap photographs and watch the boats passing far below, so I walked 50 more yards and perched on a vacant boulder.

The view, though, wasn’t the first thing I noticed.

The place is littered with discarded plastic bottles and beer cans, and the cast-off trappings of everyday life. Apparently, people climb the ridge with bags of chips and candy bars and decide, after they’ve had their fill, to discard the wrappers right there. Some people have even painted the rocks with graffiti.

All this really pisses me off.

I don’t understand the mentality of trashing a place that you’re visiting because it’s pretty. (I also fantasize about loading all those cigarette butts and Styrofoam hamburger boxes into a dump truck and leaving them on the front lawn of whoever dropped it there, but maybe that’s just me.)

Still, the view is nice.

If you make the trip, watch your step. There are no fences or guardrails to keep you from tumbling off the cliff. In 2012, a 63-year-old man from Denison died after falling 50 to 75 feet down the ledge while posing for a photo.

The steel bridge itself was opened to traffic in December 1982, just seven months after I graduated from Johnston High School on the east side of Austin. One of my classmates recounts the story of crawling out on the bridge supports late one night while it was being built. I’ve waterskied underneath it and swam near it dozens of times.

The 1,150-foot span and its 600-foot central archway was named for Percy V. Pennybacker, who designed bridges for the Texas Highway Department. It’s made of 600 tons of steel produced in Japan (a controversy at the time) and bridge structures fabricated in Korea that were shipped to Houston, then trucked to Austin. The metal was sandblasted to make sure it would weather into an even patina, which it has. The roadway itself is made of 3,400 tons of concrete.  

The $10 million project took first place in the 1984 Federal Highway Administration’s Excellence in Highway Design competition.

I like it. So do lots of other folks, based on the number of vehicles I see parked there regularly.

According to a 2012 story in the Austin American-Statesman, the state owns the right of way around the bridge, including the cliff, and the Transportation Department maintains it. Officials have posted no parking signs along the road (they’re ignored) and falling rock warnings. A well-trodden path leads up the hillside.

Please, wear a mask if you go, and be careful when you park and back out onto the southbound lanes of Loop 360 to access the trail. Car break-ins have been reported here, so don’t leave any valuables in your car or truck.

And please, pick up your trash!