Cleaning out the inbox

I told you there would be no specific day for these, so here you go with the next installment of "cleaning out the inbox." Now remember, I didn't write and I don't necessarily agree with it all. This email reminded me of when I used to visit my Mom in New Mexico as a kid, other kids would ask me if I rode a horse to school. At that time I had never even ridden a horse period.


Sent: Fri 3/1/2002 12:57 PM
Subject: FW: TEXAS PRIDE

When you're from Texas, people that you meet ask you questions like...."Do you have any cows?"

It's nice to be able to say yes.

They ask you, "Do you have horses?"

Yup.

Bet you got a bunch of guns, eh?

Of course.

They all want to know if you've been to Southfork.

They watched "Dallas".

Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Heck, yes you have.

Look at Texas 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 asanyone anywhere in the world looks at that 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'll get it sooner or later, but who else in the world would? Even if you do, does it ever stir any feelings in you?

In every man, woman and child on this little rock the Good Lord put us on, there is somewhere in them a person who wishes just once he could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or ride in a pickup or dance at a dancehall.

Did you ever hear anyone in a bar say, "Wow....so you're from Kansas. Cool. Tell me about it."?
There is some bit of Texas in everyone. Do you know why? Because Texas is 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.

We send our kids to schools named William B. Travis and Bowie and do you know why? Because those men saw a line in the sand and they decided to be heroes. John Wayne paid to do the movie himself. That is Texas. Texas is Sam Houston capturing Santa Anna at San Jacinto. Texas is Juneteenth and Texas Independence Day. Texas is huge forests of Piney Woods like the Davy Crocket National Forest. Texas is breathtaking mountains in Big Bend. Texas is shiny skyscrapers in Houston and Dallas.T exas is the uniqueness of Austin. Texas is a world record bass from places like Lake Fork. Texas has the best colleges around. From College Station to Lubbock and everywhere in between. Texas is Mexican food like nowhere in the world, even Mexico. Texas is larger-than-life legends like Willie Nelson and Buddy Holly, EarlCampbell and Nolan Ryan, Denton Cooley and Michael DeBakey, Lyndon Johnson and Presidents George Bush, father and son. Texas is great companies like Texas Instruments, Dell Computer and Compaq. Texas is huge herds of cattle and miles of crops. Texas is skies blackened with doves and fields full of deer. Texas is the best Barbecue anywhere. Period. Texas is the nicest people you'll ever meet. Anywhere. Not to mention, the prettiest girls. Texas is a place where the streets are deserted during church. Texas is the best music, with the best musicians in the world. Texas is beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, mountains and prairies.

If it isn't in Texas, you don't need it. No one does anything bigger or better. 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, or California, or Maine, and your state flag, whatever it is, flies at 17. You fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview at 20 feet, and the Lone Star flies at 20 feet. Do you know why?
Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the capitol building in D.C. We signed that and the flag height in as part of the deal when we came on. That's the best part right there....when we came on, Texas was its own country. The Republic of Texas.

Aren't you proud to be a Texan?

You should be.