Tuesday, September 30, 2003
This is for those people who don't understand what being a Texan is all about.
There is only one. . .TEXAS
In every man, woman and child on this planet, there is a person who wishes, just once, he could be a real-live Texan and get up on a horse or ride in a pickup. There is some bit of Texas in everyone. Did you ever hear anyone say, "Wow...so you're from Iowa? Cool, tell me about it?" Do you know why?
Because there's no place like Texas.
Texas is the
Alamo. One hundred, eighty-three 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 to fight and die for the cause of freedom. We send our kids to schools named
William B. Travis and
James Bowie and
Davy Crockett. We have towns in Texas named
Gonzales and
Seguin and do you know why? Because those men saw a line in the sand and they decided to cross it and be heroes. John Wayne paid to do the movie himself. That is the Spirit of Texas.
Texas is
Sam Houston capturing Santa Ana at
San Jacinto. Texas is
Juneteenth and
Texas Independence Day.
Texas is huge forests of Piney Woods like the
Davy Crockett National Forest.
Texas is breathtaking mountains in the
Big Bend.
Texas is the unparalleled beauty of
bluebonnet fields in the
Texas Hill Country.
Texas is the beautiful, warm beaches of the
Gulf Coast of South Texas.
Texas is the shiny skyscrapers in
Houston and
Dallas.
Texas is world record bass from places like
Lake Fork.
Texas is
Mexican food like nowhere else, not even Mexico.
Texas is the
Fort Worth Stockyards,
Bass Hall, and the
Astrodome.
Texas is great companies like Dell Computer, Texas Instruments and Compaq.
Texas is
NASA.
Texas is huge herds of cattle and miles of crops.
Texas is skies blackened with doves, and fields full of deer.
Texas is a place where cities shut down to watch the local high school football game on Friday nights or the Cowboys on Monday Night Football.
Texas is ocean beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, mountains and prairies, and modern cities.
Texas is larger-than-life legends like
Willie Nelson, Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Freddie Fender, Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Landry, Darrell Royal, ZZ Top, Eric Dickerson, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan, Denton Cooley, Michael DeBakey, Sam Rayburn, Dr. Hector P. Garcia, George Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Henry B. Gonzales.
If it isn't in Texas, you don't need it. No one does anything bigger or better than it's done in Texas.
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, California, or Maine and your state flag, whatever it is, goes at 17 feet. But you fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview at 20 feet and the Lone Star flies at the same height - 20 feet. Do you know why? Because Texas is the only state that was a republic before it became a state.
Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the capitol building in Washington, D.C. We can divide our state into five states if we want to! We included these things as part of the deal when we came on.
Also, down here, being a Texan is as high as being an American.
♥Oh, so vintage... 11:55 AM
