One of my favorite things about Texas

There’s a joke that Texans love to tell and it goes as follows:

Never ask a man where he’s from. If he’s not from Texas, you don’t want to embarrass him. If he is from Texas, he’ll tell you anyway.

Well . . .if the truth be told, I’m not from Texas. But, given that I’ve learned a lot about this state and its people over the 22.5 years I’ve lived here, the natives have not run me out. Texas is the third state where I’ve lived for a while (more than five years). I’ve lived in Illinois, Arizona, and Texas. A few more years here and I will have lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere in my life and that’s just fine with me. The irony in my tenure here is that there’s never been a place that I’ve disliked living more than my first three years here. So, what caused the big turnaround?

We moved here for me to go back to school for a Master’s degree and we lived in Dallas proper. That’s not particularly bad in and of itself. But, the reality was that I was working full-time, going to school, and we had a one-year-old son. My life was a constant mix of concrete, computers, books, and family stuff. We had little time to get out and when we did, it was to local destinations such as the zoo or a park. But, being in such a limited area provides little opportunity and time to get out and get a feel for the region and state as a whole. To add to this challenge was the fact that I’d driven through various parts of the state on the Interstate highways and they appeared to me to be the most God-forsaken areas on earth. I just didn’t understand why Texans were so infatuated with their state. What was so great about it?

Well, for me the turnaround came after we moved out of the city to a remote suburb south of Dallas and we took a trip to south Texas via the “Hill Country.” All of a sudden, I felt like I’d entered a whole new world. The strange thing about it is that is was different, but so familiar in a good way. I felt “home” in a number of places I’d never been before. I’ve joined numerous Facebook pages with a Texas theme and I see questions from new transplants to the state that are essentially asking for everything they need to know to “be Texan.” The problem is that you can’t read a book and get it. You can’t even ask a fifth-generation Texan and expect an answer that will be remotely helpful. One has to get around a bit. Drive through the Piney Woods, spend a night in the Hill Country, explore the wildlife preserves along the gulf coast, go visit Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo (the second largest canyon in the United States), or go marvel at the wonders of Big Bend National Park in west Texas; the only national park with an entire mountain range enclosed within its borders. Wherever you go, never be in such a hurry to not take time and meet the local citizens. The people and the small towns are where “the gold is.” That’s not a knock against the cities. They have virtues all their own.

Lastly, come to Texas in April and check out the wildflowers. In the photos below are bluebonnets (state flower) and Paintbrushes. I took these photos just today. I’d be happy living here the rest of my life just to see these bloom every Spring.

Click the photo to see more Texas wildflowers. Photos taken by David Largent. April 4, 2020