Posted on 04/10/2002 5:49:46 AM PDT by serinde
When you're from Texas, people that you meet ask you questions like....
"Do you have any cows?" It's nice to be able to say yes.
They ask you, "Do you have horses?" Yup.
"Bet you got a bunch of guns, eh?" Of course.
They all want to know if you've been to Southfork. They watched "Dallas."
Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Heck, yes you have.
Look at Texas just for a second. That picture, with the Panhandle and the Gulf Coast, and the Red River and the Rio Grande is as much a part of you as anything ever will be.
As soon as anyone anywhere in the world looks at that they know what it is. It's TEXAS. Pick any kid off the street in Japan and draw him a picture of Texas in the dirt, and he'll know what it is.
What happens if I show you a picture of any other state? You'll get it sooner or later, but who else in the world would? Even if you do, does it ever stir any feelings in you?
In every man, woman and child on this little rock the Good Lord put us on, there is somewhere in them a person who wishes just once he could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or ride in a pickup or dance at a dance hall. Did you ever hear anyone say, "Wow ... so you're from Kansas. Cool. Tell me about it."?
There is some bit of Texas in everyone. Do you know why? Because Texas is Texas.
Texas is the Alamo. Texas is 183 men standing in a church, facing thousands of Mexican nationals, fighting for freedom, who had the chance to walk out and save themselves, but stayed.
We send our kids to schools named William B. Travis and Bowie and do you know why? Because those men saw a line in the sand and they decided to be heroes. John Wayne paid to do the movie himself. That is Texas.
Texas is Sam Houston capturing Santa Anna at San Jacinto.
Texas is Juneteenth and Texas Independence Day. Texas is huge forests of Piney Woods like the Davy Crocket National Forest.
Texas is breathtaking mountains in Big Bend.
Texas is shiny skyscrapers in Houston and Dallas. Texas is the uniqueness of Austin.
Texas is a world record bass from places like Lake Fork.
Texas has the best colleges around; from Austin to Lubbock and everywhere in between.
Texas is Mexican food like nowhere in the world, even Mexico.
Texas is larger-than-life legends like Willie Nelson and Buddy Holly, Earl Campbell and Nolan Ryan, Denton Cooley and Michael DeBakey, Lyndon Johnson and two George Bushes.
Texas is great companies like Texas Instruments, Dell Computer and Compaq.
Texas is huge herds of cattle and miles of crops.
Texas is skies blackened with doves and fields full of deer.
Texas is the best barbecue anywhere. Period.
Texas is the nicest people you'll ever meet. Anywhere. Not to mention, the prettiest girls.
Texas is a place where the streets are deserted during church.
Texas is the best music, with the best musicians in the world.
Texas is beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, mountains and prairies.
If it isn't in Texas, you don't need it. No one does anything bigger or better.
By federal law Texas is the only state in the U.S. that can fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. flag. Think about that for a second. You fly the Stars and Stripes at 20 feet in Maryland, or California, or Maine, and your state flag, whatever it is, flies at 17 feet. You fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview at 20 feet, and the Lone Star flies at 20 feet.
Do you know why? Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the capitol building in D.C. We signed that and the flag height in as part of the deal when we came on.
That's the best part right there ... when we came on, Texas was its own country. The Republic of Texas.
Aren't you proud to be a Texan?
I don't know what the problem is down here that causes "natives" to think NYC is the entire state. I didnt't think Mayberry was the entire state of NC before I moved here. And I am no Rand-McNally.
NY is as rural, if not more so than NC and people here are shocked to hear this when I tell them. They find it hard to believe. I tell them about one of my college roommates whose parents own a cattle farm in Darien NY and they think I am making it up. Is the anti-yankee attitude so strong that it is taught to them and taught to believe that NYC is all of NY and that we are a bunch of "City Slickers"?
I hope you got this from an old post of mine, and I assure you it is true.
I've got something of a unique perspective - I grew up in Texas and moved to NY at 16, so I know what it looks like from the outside. And NYC is all you ever see and hear about in the news, on TV, in movies, and whatever - it's not that someone's trying to distort their views, it just happens that way. They only know about NYC because that's all they ever hear about.
You know there's more to it, I know there's more to it, but outside the state, it doesn't register much in the popular consciousness - upstate just doesn't get nearly the attention that downstate does. Think about it - when was the last time you saw a sitcom or movie set in Utica or Rochester? And the last time you saw one set in NYC? ;)
It takes a certain type of person to live in Texas - the extreme heat and cold, the long distances between places, the simple life in some parts of the State - but always, a gentleness of spirit in the locals - a love of God and Country, and the loyalty to their beloved State -
And the article HAD to mention Mexican food.......... lol
Free Fire Zone
While I agree with the premise of this article it is not completely accurate. I like Texas too. Lived there for 20 years.
Don't forget the rattlesnakes. They're a part of Texas also.
BUMP!!
I remember as a kid, coming home the first day at the start of a new school year, with the biggest text book I had ever seen in my life. I was groaning about the fact that I would have to carry this thing around all year. My mom asked me what class it was for, I told her it was my Texas History textbook.
I'll always remember the smile of pride on her face when she explained to me how lucky I was. I was born and raised in a state as magnificent as Texas, with such a rich and interesting history, that the textbook had to be that big to do it any justice.
When I thought about it, I knew she was right. "Texan" is a birthright I carry as proudly with me as I do "American". My job currently has displaced me from my wonderful home state, but I look forward to the day when I can go back home to Texas.
That is funny, all MY hillbilly friends call me Texas too!
Is it any wonder that we've always had a strong "isolationalist" streak. We don't crave empire. We don't want other people's wealth. Just leave us alone to live and let live. But if you come over here to bust up our buildings and hurt our citizens, then we'll fight back--we've got a long memory, and courageous folks is all walks of life that will risk everything, including more terror, to maintain our way of life.
Also, when I was over seas, I told everyone I was from "Texas". They would look at me with big bug eyes and a huge smile, like I was from Mars or something. They would ask about South Fork, cowboy boots, horses, and on and on. It was really kinda sweet. When I lived in Turkey, I taught ESL. I took a country western cassette to class one day, and taught my students how to two-step. LOL I also made them some Mexican food. They loved it.
Texas has a great many admirable characteristics, BUT---Cajun food is better. Tex-mex isn't even in the running by comparison.
From London to York to Edinburgh, we performed and concluded each concert with a medley of Texas music...based on "Deep in the Heart" and ending with "The Eyes of Texas."
When we got to "The Eyes," we unfurled our State flag. Invariably, the UK audiences went to their feet in loud ovation!
What a great feeling, so far from home...
Greetings from Houston/ =bob=
I agree with you completely. I was in the army for a few years and stationed in Texas for all of it. I was born in CT but I still tell people I'm from TX...it's my adopted home now, I plan on moving back there when I'm done with college...but I fell in love with San Antonio. That town rocks!
Unimpressed, the other Texan says ,"that's nice, I only own four."
"Only four acres?"
"Yep, only four"
"In downtown Dallas."
But, I still have to go with Tex-Mex as my favorite........
By the way, all my brother-in-laws in Ireland introduce me as "The Texan". I had an interesting encounter with a Scotsman in an Irish Pub. When he found out I was from Texas he made a comment about another "Yankee". I asked him if I had insulted him in any way. He replied," No. Why?" I said, I'm a Texan not some Damnyankee. He said, "Your from America, you're all yankess."
At this point, the only retort I could think of was, "Do all you Englishmen believe that?" He replied with the finest, thickest, Scots burr, I'm from Scotland, not bloody England." I replied," Your from the British Isles, same difference." At this point he said, "My God, is it that bad?" I said, "It tis."
Next thing I know I have a Pint of Guiness from an apologetic man.
Later, he ends up being knocked unconscience when thrown from a bull in a rodeo. Everyone gathers around, asking if he's okay. Someone asks him if he remembers his name, and he replies, " I remember the Alamo.", which results in dozens of Stetsons being flung in the air with a "Yeehah!"
Say what you want about that movie, but he really captured the essence of the "Spirit of Texas" in those scenes.
Bavarians from Germany are right up there with them
The Singing Cowboy
http://www.shsu.edu/~stdbks13/george.html
After his discharge in 1975, George enrolled at Southwest Texas State University in
San Marcos under the G.I. Bill. He put up fliers around campus advertising himself as
a lead singer in search of a band. One of his first responses was from the guys who
now make up the Ace In The Hole Band. They hired him as their lead singer and they
started to play gigs.
George's big break came when the band was booked into a club in San Marcos,
The Prairie Rose. The owner was Erv Woolsey, a former executive with MCA Records.
Woolsey booked the band sight unseen, but he was more than impressed when he heard
them play. After that first booking, he asked them back repeatedly, he and George
became good friends. When Woolsey later returned to Nashville and the music business,
he stayed in occasional contact with George.
I thought he was from Reedville!
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