November 13, 2009

It's Like A Whole Other Country

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There are some things that a California girl, like me

finds very unique about Texas.

Starting with the title of this post . . . . it's the state slogan




We live amid groves of majestic oak trees

in a beautiful part of Texas


called: The Hill Country



then there is:

the cute Longhorn steer across the street

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enthusiastic state pride
exhibited in the omnipresence of enormous Texas flags


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uber loyal football fans

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the sun neither rises nor sets on the beach

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bumper stickers like this

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FM 1560 is not a radio station, it's a road (farm to market)

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We live on a limestone plain stretching from San Antonio to Dallas;

you can't even plant a tree without blasting.

Gorgeous local stone abounds
;

here is our front courtyard and back steps under construction


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even the Alamo is made of local limestone

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I have also noticed:

the most extraordinary blues skies and cotton clouds I have ever seen

a perfectly normal sounding sentence (no accent, no twang, no drawl) ends with y'all

rain is most properly described as a deluge

earth shaking lightening storms


shorter lines at stores

fabulous BBQ brisket, which, once again, Steve has duplicated . . . . perfectly

I have seen scorpions, 2" cockroaches, 6" centipedes, and a coral snake



stars adorn everything

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homes, freeway overpasses, my dog's collar . . . everything


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It takes 24 hours to drive to California (we have done it several times)

In the same amount of time, we could drive to New York City,

or Canada,

or Central America





It's an interesting place, this Texas


6 comments:

Cheryl Joy said...

Good post.
I love the additions onto your house. They're beautiful.

I've lived in Florida for all of my life that I can remember. I can't imagine living 24 hours away! (I would though. ;)

Chrissy said...

Interesting, indeed. But we quite like it. It is SO different from Cali.

Brittany said...

I love your photos! You capitalized on what I noticed most about TX in your post: less people, lots of pride, amazing rain and lightning storms, and for the vast majority "ya'll," "yes ma'am and sir" are the only dialectical differences from western Americans. Like Chrissy said it is so different (in a good way) than Cali and even its neighbor, Oklahoma!

Zach O. said...

i dadgum appreciate this post.

Anonymous said...

Texas is not California and Texas is not what California's think it is.
I love the Hill Country most of all.
I respect and rather like the pride Texans have for their state but I think their addition to pledge of allegiance is a little arrogant. Don't get me started on the "power trip" law enforcement officers have in Texas. The people, in general, are very kind and generous.

kelley said...

Hmmmmmmmmmmm Steve....had a little run in with the law?? We love Texas also...Especially the people. We have lived in seven states and found wonderful people in each one (what a wonderful country we have) but Texas 'takes the prize'...

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I married my high school sweetheart 34 years ago in the LDS Temple. I have 4 children (3 married, and a 14 year old) and 6 grandchildren. I lived my entire life in California, until 6 years ago. I now reside in San Antonio, Texas. The most important thing to me is my family; I have invested the most in them and it has paid great dividends. I love doing anything creative that beautifies my surroundings and I love nature. I minored in Art and majored in Interior Design at BYU, yet, my profession is a Tax Preparer.

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