Texas

My husband emailed this to me from work yesterday. While we've only been in Texas since last May, I must say this makes me proud to be a Texan, even though I still consider myself a New Yorker to some extent. I think I understand the Texas attitude a little better now. The Texas flags everywhere, the occasional bumper sticker advocating Texas secession, and the pride of being a Texan. I will admit though, that trying to get Texas IDs, took us way too long and we went around and around in circles for it. Everything was one step forward, 3 steps back. But we finally have them (or at least we have the temporary pieces of paper and the others should be on their way soon). When I get mine, I want to get my library card and get a book on Texas History. Since I grew up in NY, I took NY history and don't know much about Texas history. I don't want anything too dry, not a textbook, but something that can give me a good crash course on Texas History while being an interesting read. If anyone has any suggestions on a good book, please comment below!

TEXAS

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 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 California? 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, ZZ Top, Eric Dickerson,

Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan,

Sam Rayburn, George Bush,

Lyndon B. Johnson, and George W. Bush.

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 and the Texans

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.

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.

The world's tallest war memorial

stands at San Jacinto 15 feet taller

than the Washington monument

honoring all those who fought for

Texas's independence.

Texas even has its own power grid.

And every Texan knows the true saying:

You can take a Texan out of Texas . . .

but you can't take Texas out of the Texan!

That's one of the reasons

so many stay right here!

If you are a REAL TEXAN you

won't even need to be told to pass this on!