Three years ago, when we returned from London, we sat around on the first Sunday, wondering what we were going to do. We took care of all shopping and other necessities on Saturday and the upcoming day seemed remarkably empty. In London, there was always something going on and if not, there were all the galleries and museums within walking distance and they were all free.

It turns out that there are things to do in Houston too, even though they are generally not very high brow and almost never are within walking distance.

(Click on the picture to see it full size, use a back button to return to this spot.) We spent one weekend at the Art Car parade, a free event, when Houstonians who feel the urge to personalize their cars have a chance to show their stuff. In general, this consists of gluing to the car various objects that are of particular personal significance (for instance if you are a dentist). Some are much more elaborate, cars that look like a giant chicken or a cockroach, for instance. It is difficult to describe, but if you have a chance to come to Houston in the beginning of May, we will be happy to take you along. The weather is always good.

This year I finally found a strawberry farm where you can pick your own, the season apparently starts in April and so next year it will provide two months of fun rather than one. It is a bit of a drive, being on the south side of Houston, but the strawberries are only $1.50 a pound, you can pick the small very red ones that actually have the flavour of strawberries and they are on black vinyl, so that they are clean enough to be extensively sampled while you pick – that is if you have a digestive tract like I do. The last weekend of May was the last strawberry weekend but luckily blueberries have just started and so all the June weekends are already booked.