Up until Monday night I could honestly say that the Austin City Council had never, ever been the subject of any of my dreams. But for some odd reason a snippet of one of my dreams included a male Council member (no idea who it was) wearing a hippo costume and vowing not to take off the outfit until some unnamed Council action took place. Weird, huh? Do any Council members have especially strong ties to Hutto? Maybe it's the upcoming elections that put the City Council into my dreams. In any event, it prompted me to take a look at the most recent City Council activities, among them:

Approved a 50-year lease for approximately one acre of land at 1200 Webberville Road for the Austin Yellow Bike Project. The Austin Yellow Bike Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing bicycle transportation for the people of Austin, operating a community bike shop, and educating children and adults about the benefits of cycling.

I've only seen one of the yellow bikes out and about just once, parked outside of Thundercloud Subs at Burnet and Anderson. Although part of the project involves fixing up old bikes and releasing them to the wild -- that is, releasing them out into the community as free transportation -- that's only part of what they do. Another cool and educational aspect of the Austin Yellow Bike Project are the various bike repair and bike donation programs. There are several for the general public and for school children. For example, in the Earn-a-Bike program you volunteer 12 hours to Yellow Bike where you learn all about bike repair and maintenance by working on project bikes (no experience necessary -- they teach you). After that time you can start building your own bike from their warehouse of bikes and parts -- all for free. I think I know what I might have my kids doing this summer when they start complaining about their bikes falling apart.