lone star whatnot

When people refer to Texas as a completely different country and really not a state at all, I used to just snicker a bit at the holier-than-thou, self-righteous comment. When I hear that these days, I kinda get what they mean. Texas is a state unlike any other, that's for sure. I'll venture to say that it has the most personality of any that I've visited (that would make Indiana come in last...sorry to all my hoosier friends).

I've been here for over four years now, but I still don't know if I'd consider myself a "Texan". I still think of Kentucky as home, but I think of Texas the same way when I'm in Kentucky. My driver's license says Texas, as do my license plates. Is my proverbial heart in Texas? Of that I am not sure. But I am starting to feel like I belong here in a way and I enjoy telling folks from home where I am these days. Texas is still an exciting place to be with a rich and diverse culture, a great deal of appreciation for the arts, and a fascinating breed of people unlike any I've met.

They say that "everything is bigger in Texas", and that seems to be the case, for the most part. Big hair, big ranches, big meal portions, and good lord, big trucks. The latter is the one that I find most entertaining. Trucks are useful to farmers, various small business owners, and the like. In Texas, however, the truck is something to take pride in, to be passionate about. Ford versus Chevy versus Dodge, the battle rages on. And there's always someone with a truck bigger than yours. I've developed a theory on this. The bigger the truck, the smaller the...man. Ahem. I frequently laugh out loud when I see some ridiculous, otherwise pathetic-looking pickup trolling down the interstate all souped up with what appears to be monster truck rally tires. Yeah, that goober driving it thinks he's somebody. But I truly think he's just trying to compensate for something that I'll not mention here. Heh heh heh. I'll bet ole Freud would have a thing or two to say about that if he was alive. The truck manufacturers are banking on the Texas thing, big time. Every commercial says, "TEXAS FORD TOUGH" or "BIGGER IN TEXAS, BETTER IN A DODGE". They assume that they will sell more trucks here if they attach the word Texas on the vehicle somewhere, and the proud Texan rednecks will come like moths to a flame.

Note: Our lovely Dodge Ram 1500 is indeed the "Lone Star Edition" but that is only because it had the nice seats and CD player, but none of the other useless crap. If we wanted the little metal decal to put on the outside of the truck, it would put us back $200. Uh, thanks anyway.

Trucks are just one of many examples of how strange an animal the great state of Texas is. I'm still pretty entertained for the moment, so I doubt our house will be on the market anytime soon. Everything might really be bigger in Texas (egos definitely are), but I'm still evaluating the one about the steers and queers. I'll be sure to get back to ya on that one.