posted on January 1, 2001 05:31:59 PM new
I just got home from a trip to sign papers on our new home. I want to share what I saw with you, as it all impressed me.
I saw miles and miles of pristine snow sparkling under a sky as blue as the topaz I love. The air was clean and crisp and made me want to play in the snow.
I saw a horrible wreck in which 2 people died and 6 were sent to hospital. As terrible as this was, I was impressed by the way passers-by stopped to help during this tragedy, regardless of the slick highway and freezing temperatures.
I saw my new home-looking out the front windows, I see acres of huge trees, carefully mown grass (still green), peacocks strutting for the hens, and Canadian geese in the river just below our 'mini' waterfall. There were four deer in the trees beside the river, and squirrels scampering through the trees.
Of course, I also saw the sales at the huge mall, the latest movies-what Women want is funny! And met some wonderful, friendly people who welcomed us to our new home as though we were long lost relatives.
And guess what! I saw all of this in Texas!!! Knock it all you want, it can't be beat!
posted on January 1, 2001 05:45:26 PM new
With a positive attitude like that you can live anywhere. Texas has been it's own country before - who knows? They may do it again someday. I won't argue with them.
posted on January 1, 2001 06:20:06 PM new
bearmom,
It sounds like a lovely place that you are going to live. Could it be near Houston? I thought Houston was a beautiful town especially with the way they seemed to build houses around the beautiful old, old trees.
I especially enjoyed the wild flowers along the road ways that Lady Bird, I believe, played a part in. The flowers were a joy to at.
Later in the 80's, I believe, the part of Texas I saw was full of for sale signs on business windows written in another language. That was sad for any state.
I agree. It is nice when you see your fellow men and women stopping to help people in need and am sorry for the families involved.
posted on January 1, 2001 08:13:09 PM new
We are moving to the hill country-God's gift to Texas! We drove from the Panhandle all the way to Austin, so we saw quite a bit of Texas, and there is no part I haven't seen at some time.
Texas has everything anyone could ask for-as my son said on the way home, the only thing Texas doesn't have is a ski slope. And that's real handy in New Mexico! It has the nicest people, the cleanest air, the greatest views, and the prettiest sunsets.
My mother in law does have the leathery skin-from years of working cattle beside her husband, which makes it a badge of honor, not a fault. We do have dust-when it blows, it's not just an 'inconvenience' to the tourists, it's someone's topsoil, their livelihood blowing away. We do support the death penalty-because we value life so highly. We do have men who inherit wealth and power from their fathers-because we value family so highly. And we do have men who hesitate over words, and memorize speeches-because we value honesty and accuracy.
I know I sound like a sap, but the simple fact is that we native Texans are proud of our heritage and our state. My family has been in Texas since before the Alamo, and I am proud of what they made out of a 'barren, dirty, hot' place.
posted on January 1, 2001 08:36:56 PM new
bearmom...I have a dear friend, 70 years old, who is a native of Austin and just loves it there. She has lived all over, but came home to retire and enjoy the area. I hope to get a chance to see Austin and the hill country at some point.
Our only travel through Texas (besides airport stop overs) has been through Dallas/FW when my SIL was living there. We came through on our honeymoon in May 1987, and caught a part of the storm system that ended up causing a tornado that devastated Saragosa. You do have some great storms out that way. I don't think I ever saw it rain so hard in my life!
posted on January 1, 2001 09:56:49 PM new
Where at in the Texas Panhandle are you from? I live about an hour and a half from Amarillo in some crappy little town no one has heard of.
posted on January 2, 2001 06:47:31 AM new
Shar9, those are bluebonnets, our state flower-come in March, April, and the hill country will be solid blue with them. About the same time, they have the Azalea trail tours-azaleas in bloom everywhere! Not too bad for a desert-also Indian paint, honeysuckle growing wild all the way up into the panhandle,wild plum just as far north, and gorgeous pale yellow prickly pear blooms followed by cranberry red prickly pears.
Snowydays, are you south or north of Amarillo? We are near Plainview. My son and his wife are seniors at WTAMU.
Surely not Borger? We used to live in Sunray-the saying there was that it's not the end of the world, but you could see it from sunray, if you looked toward Borger!
One of our cattle 'farms' is located west of Amarillo, a little bump in the road named Adrian. From the interstate, it looks absolutely flat, but there is a big draw with a lake in it behind the house-a beautiful view, undisturbed by humans. Just cattle and antelope. You can almost 'see' the Indians coming down the draw.
At the head of the lake is a spring and cave where the Indians lived. The walls of the cave are still covered with Indian drawings, and the fireholes they cut in the ground. A great place for hikes, but watch out for the rattlers-diamond back and prairie!
[ edited by bearmom on Jan 2, 2001 06:52 AM ]
posted on January 2, 2001 06:55:19 AM new
Bearmom - congratulations on your new home! It sounds like you're describing paradise. I want deer and peacocks in my yard... but all I have are squirrels, crows, and sometimes a neighborhood cat.
posted on January 2, 2001 12:44:11 PM new
I am not sure where Plainview is, I have not lived in Texas long. I live in Perryton. A seller I bought from the other day had the right idea about this area: "I have been all through the Amarillo area...summers like
hell,winters like the north pole." All I know is that Texas reeks, over here they have all the corporate hog farms and slaughter houses. About 30 miles from here they have a dogfood factory next to the highway. I have never smelled anything as bad as that, ever, and I have seen the most gruesome of things there while driving by. On top of that, this town is 80% Spanish, no one speaks English or cares to learn English. If I had wanted to live in Mexico, I would have moved there........
posted on January 2, 2001 02:42:26 PM new
what on earth made you move to Perryton? It is a crummy little town-but once you get to know the people, they will be very good to you, small Texas towns are like that. You picked one of the worst areas to live in, a lot of migrant workers from Mexico in the farm areas, and you're right. They bring Mexico with them and make no effort to fit in. The ones who have been here for years are different, though, very stable families, and again, they are wonderful loving women, and beautiful children!
I used to teach kindergarten here, and usually had nearly all hispanic children in my classes. The mothers go all out to help the teachers-wonderful class parties, one grandmother who runs the hispanic community here, arranged an entire fiesta with dancing, costumes, and the whole 9 yards for us when we were studying Mexico. I have those kids in high school now, and the mothers are still great. They want their kids to succeed, and appreciate everything we do for them, much more so than the whites, who just demand it!
posted on January 2, 2001 03:09:16 PM new
bearmom, yes, it is a cruddy little town, I don't care about fitting in, I do believe that most of them here are inbred anyway. We were transferred from the best town in the world to here. My husband is in the oilfield, I am sure you know what kind of money they make, we could not afford to stay where we were and have him find a different job, we would have been living in poverty and had his yearly salary cut in half. I am not a poverty kind of gal. If you have been over here then you must have had the pleasure of the dogfood factory, it is over in Booker. When the wind blows here it stinks so bad that it literally gags you from the hog farms. They are big business though, half of Oklahoma and Texas are over run with them. I certainly would not work at one of them, but all the immigrants do. I don't think that I mind immigrants, at least I used to not, before I moved here. I am all for people keeping their heritage, but to come here, illegally, and then make no effort at all just ticks me off. I know, I am sounding terribly prejudiced, but I really do try not to be.
posted on January 2, 2001 04:20:53 PM new
I live in the Houston (pollution) area of Texas.
Actually it is outside of Houston and a kind of smallish town. It has grown a lot in the 15 years since I have been here.
I hate the flatness and the heat and the bad air. The people are great though. Very friendly and helpful.
I love the Texas Hill country it is so beautiful. I always wanted a house in Splendora Texas.Doesn't that sound cool ...Splendora) It is full of piney woods and a world famous artist (sculpture) lives there..James Surl.
He has a killer studio that is the size of a barn.
I don't really mind the mix of cultures. It has been this way in Texas(a fourth generation Texan told me) since Texas began.There are more hispanics now but there are more of us too.
Remember Texas was originally part of Mexico.
I think it gives Texas a spicy cultural flavor you don't find anywhere else.
posted on January 2, 2001 05:01:46 PM new
You're absolutely right-think of the wonderful things we have that are Mexican in origin-tacos, fajitas, pinatas, chimineas, beautiful beadwork, mexican silver, pottery, architecture, and some great children I have had in class!
posted on January 2, 2001 06:14:20 PM new
My son's godparents are hispanic, Mexican Americans. They are both children of migrant farm workers. She was born in McAllen, Texas and followed her large family throughout Texas (and eventually to California) wherever her parents and older siblings could find farm work. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara, and until recently was a Vice-President of a large Los Angeles bank. He (godfather) was also the child of migrant workers. He also graduated UC Santa Barbara, and worked the lettuce fields in Bakersfield to put himself through UCLA to get his Masters degree. He is now the City Manager of a good sized city in the Los Angeles area. When we visit, I get to practice my lousy Spanish even though their English is as good as mine. Her enchiladas aren't as good as mine though, but her verde sauce is better. They have HUGE extended families, with something like 18 siblings between them, and the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and you have not had a good time until you have been to one of their family celebrations. They epitomize the so-called "Family Values" that seem to be the "catch word" of the conservative politicians, yet this is the very group that would shut them out in any but an election year. They are just about the finest and most hard working people that I've ever met, and they didn't get where they are by handouts. We all have to start somewhere. And they did.
posted on January 2, 2001 07:12:44 PM new
Snowy, if you don't 'want to fit in', that is the same attitude you are complaining about with the Mexicans. If you will give it a try, you will find out that small town people are the greatest. They will be an extended family if you allow them to be.
If you choose not to, then you will be miserable as long as you live there, regardless of how much money your husband is making. If you really feel that way, maybe you should consider a cut in salary, or getting a job yourself so that you can move elsewhere.
Any place is home if you choose to make it so, and miserable if you choose to make it so. It's entirely up to you, and has nothing to do with the way the town smells..
