A moment of silence, please
15 feet taller than the Washington Monument
The real king of beers is made here!
Posted on 10/14/2005 3:43:58 PM PDT by phatoldphart
When you're from Texas, people that you meet ask you questions like, Do you have any cows?" "Do you have horses?" "Bet you got a bunch of guns, eh?"
They all want to know if you've been to Southfork. They watched Dallas.
Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Look at Texas with me 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 it 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 might get it maybe after a second or two, but who else would? And even if you do, does it ever stir any feelings in you?
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 off in a pickup. There is some little bit of Texas in everyone.
Did you ever hear anyone in a bar go, "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. 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 instead to fight and die for the cause of freedom. We send our kids to schools named William B. Travis and James Bowie and Crockett 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, the Ballpark in Arlington and the Astrodome.
Texas is larger-than-life legends like Michael DeBakey, Denton Cooley, Willie Nelson, Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Landry, Darrell Royal, Rick Husband, Eric Dickerson, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan, Sam Rayburn, Lyndon B.Johnson.
Texas is great companies like Dell Computer, Texas Instruments and Compaq. And LOCKHEED MARTIN AEROSPACE, Home of the F-16 Jet Fighter and the JSF Fighter.
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 towns and cities shut down to watch the local High School Football game on Friday nights and for the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, and for the Night In Old San Antonio River Parade in San Antonio. Texas is ocean beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, mountains and prairies, and modern cities.
If it isn't in Texas, you probably 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. You fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview or anyplace else at 20 feet, the Lone Star flies at the same height - 20 feet. Do you know why? Because it is the only state that was a republic before it became a state.
Also, being a Texan is as high as being an American down here. Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the capitol building in Washington, D.C. and we can divide our state into five states at any time if we wanted to! We included these things as part of the deal when we came on. That's the best part, right there.
Texas even has its own power grid!!
If you are a REAL TEXAN you won't even need to be told to pass this on!"
I totally agree. They are the other side of the blue bells.
I understand his reputation (Maverick), but let's face it; a silver star winner in WW1, and from what I could get from his newspaper collums in his later years, a very dedicated man; liberal or not. As a conservative I can still salute him.
You said it. Ain't no place like home.
&
Texas IS home.
Saw that show in about 1990. Very strange thing to teach a pig to dive and swim. Kids really liked it.
Been there. Got to tell you though, I wasn't terribly impressed. The highest point was the overpass on the interstate. Everything was dry. I saw some fat "cowboy" driving a 1974 Dodge Dart with longhorns on the hood (they came in handy as he had to tie down his hood with rope to keep it from flying up when he drove). No waves at the beach though the gulf shrimp were pretty nice. Barbecue, huh? You call that "barbecue sauce"? The LoneStar Beer tasted like armadillo pee. I did manage to find a couple of cute girls but hey, I'm from Carolina, I wasn't overly impressed.
Texas? I dunno, I guess it must be an "acquired taste".
"You've got to have mesquite wood to have real BBQ."
Close but no seegar.
Pecan wood is the only way to go. Yummmm.......
I've used both.......
For me.... mesquite wood ....
But I'm in south Texas and we have a lot of it......
To each his own..........
The only rewason to use barbeque sauce is to hide the flavor of bad meat......
I have lived around the country and enjoyed most places where I have lived, but Texas is where I want to be. Texas is my home, I'm happy to be here now, and Texas is where I'll die. "
My brother-in-law (born in IN, raised in upstate NY, now residing in CA) cannot understand why Texas schools teach Texas history. He claims it's akin to brainwashing. I tell him it's a Texas thing and he wouldn't understand.
Since we're on the subject of the Lone Star State, I'd like to know if any of my fellow Texans get as annoyed as I do when people try to imitate our Texas drawl. It's not something that can be simply duplicated and it ticks me off when people try to do so. My mother-in-law had the audacity to ask me if I had a hard time learning to read and spell because I often drop the "g" at the end of words when I speak. I explained to her that I personally don't know of anyone who has had a problem with reading and spelling because of their Texas dialect. I've had to ask other in-laws not to correct my children when they use the phrase "fixin' to." My next step will be to tell them to stay the hell at home if they don't like the way we talk.
Oh well, at least they only come to visit and they eventually leave, which makes them Yankees instead of Damn Yankees.
I've had pecan smoked bbq.
Too bland for me.
Nothing beats mesquite.
When I die I may not go to heaven
I don't know if they let cowboys in
If they don't just let me go to Texas, Boy!
Texas is as close as I've been.
New York couldn't hold my attention
Detroit City couldn't sing my song
If tomorrow finds me busted flat in Dallas
I won't care, 'cause at least I'll know I'm home.
When I die I may not go to heaven
I don't know if they let cowboys in
If they don't just let me go to Texas, Boy!
Texas is as close as I've been.
I'd ride through all of Hell and half of Texas
Just to hear Willie Nelson sing a country song
Beer just ain't as cold in old Milwaukee
My body's here, but my soul's in San Antone.
When I die I may not go to heaven
I don't know if they let cowboys in
If they don't just let me go to Texas, Boy!
Texas is as close as I've been.
When I die I may not go to heaven
I don't know if they let cowboys in
If they don't just let me go to Texas, Boy!
Texas is as close as I've been.
Texas size BUMP....
Using your Texas shaped swimming pool as reference I'd have to say "yes." How many Colorado shpaed pools have you seen? Man, those rectangle things are all over the place. ;o)
Hook 'em!!!
should try hickory.old gringo
Yore durn tootin'.........
It shore do......
I'm a native born Texan and absolutely ADORE my state. However, I still love beautiful Lake Tahoe, the gorgeous mountains of Colorado, the green hills in Wisconsin, the history of Massachusetts, and the beautiful beaches of Florida. In most states that my husband (who is a native of the beautiful state of Wisconsin) and I have visited, we've found very friendly people who were as interested in Texas as I was in their state.
You ask me what I like about Texas
I tell you it's the wide open spaces!
It's everything between the Sabine and the Rio Grande.
It's the Llano Estacada,
It's the Brazos and the Colorado;
Spirit of the people down here who share this land!
(Chorus)
It's another burrito, it's a cold Lone Star in my hand
It's a quarter for the jukebox, boys,
Play some songs by your favorite Austin Texas band!
You ask me what I like about Texas
It's the big timber round Nacogdoches
It's driving El Camino Real into San Antone
It's the Riverwalk and Mi Tierra
Dancing to the Cotton-eyed Joe
It's stories of the Menger Hotel and the Alamo!
(You remember the Alamo!)
It's another burrito, it's a cold Lone Star in my hand!
It's a quarter for the jukebox, boys,
Play some songs by your favorite Austin Texas band!
Hey, you ask me what I like about Texas
It's Blue Bonnet and Indian paint brushes
Swimming in the sacred waters of Barton Springs
It's body surfing at Frio
It's Saturday night in Del Rio!
Driving across the border for some cultural exchange!
It's another burrito, it's a cold Lone Star in my hand!
It's a quarter for the jukebox, boys,
Play some songs by your favorite Austin Texas band!
Guy Clark was always a Soul-Writer in my book ... and one of Texas greatest Poets of all time.
One of the highlights of my musical life is co-writing a song with him at Kerrville in '88 ... 'The Old Screen Door' ... hasn't made it onto any of his records yet due to a very complicated publishing situation, but the experience for me was simply Spiritual.
I met Guy Clark while in college (Long Beach St.)and was part of the staff for our annual Banjo Fiddle and Guitar Festival (amateur contest in the day time and professional acts in the evening). As I recall, our bill that year featured: Guy Clark, Joe Ely, Steve Earle and Doc Watson.
My assignment was Performer Hospitality and Coordination. Basically I made sure they had what they needed in their dressing rooms and kept them posted as to when they would be going on.
Guy and his people were all very polite and professional. I did not know who he was before that event, but have been a fan ever since.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.