I am packing this evening to fly to San Antonio tomorrow, to pow-wow with my fellow wizards at a medical conference. It will be my first time in Texas. (1) I feel like Margaret Meade going to the Bantus to observe tribal behavior.
In my life I’ve met only a few Texans; most of my knowledge about the state is from internet (liberal) news sites. I have the impression I will be among Bible-thumping, gun-slinging, GOP-worshiping Protestants. Poor Texas! According to The Weather Channel they freeze to death in winter, are blown away by tornados in spring and hurricanes in the fall, and in summer has more humidity than a steam room. I wonder what Texans are really like. Perhaps I shan’t see any true Texans for I will be ensconced in a swanky hotel for 2-3 days.
I have a fancy to skip class and visit the Alamo, but I have my doubts. Unlike most Americans, I know some history. The story of the Alamo is a complex tale, the accumulation of years of Spanish-Mexican-American tensions. The Alamo is not a simple black vs. white, good vs. bad, us vs. them story. (2) I worry if I dare doubt the dogma some outraged person in the tour group will shoot me on the spot. (3)
Perhaps I will just stay safely indoors at the Hyatt and eat BBQ. The few Texans I know loudly boast BBQ from Texa is better than anywhere else (4).
Another ticklish topic I shall eschew is the subject of Texas cessation. I’ve heard rumors The Lone Star State wants to leave the USA and have another go at being a Republic. I don’t know what percentage of Texans actually want this. Interestingly I don’t hear what percentage of the other 49 wish to vote Texas off the island, as it were. (5)
Anyway, I am sure to keep Spo-fans abreast of the news as I vagabond about Texas.
I promised Someone I would not bring home any cowboy things.
1- In 2005 when we moved to Arizona we drove through the top part of Texas, but I slept through it.
2 – In the case of the Alamo, brown vs. white
3- The Alamo website instructs men to remove their hats when visiting, as if it were a sacred place, like a church. Same website assures me is OK for men to carry around a gun.
4- Come to think of it, they boast everything is better in Texas.
5- I am for all for succession if Texas take Mr. Cruz with them.
Spo-Reflections 
27 comments
October 19, 2016 at 10:22 PM
wcs
Yeee-ha! I, too, have only driven through the top part and stopped for lunch, somewhere around Amarillo if memory serves.
October 20, 2016 at 7:19 AM
Urspo
I think we did the same route when we moved in 2005. I was asleep – or maybe I was shielding my eyes 🙂
October 19, 2016 at 10:35 PM
Old Lurker
Do you not get any tourist time when attending these conferences? It seems as if you are always threatening to skip class in order to see the sights. That makes me sad because Good Boys don’t skip class.
October 20, 2016 at 7:20 AM
Urspo
The scandal is often my fellow-wizards ‘check-in’ then run off to play and don’t actually attend the conference – but get their holiday tax deductible. Worse, they claim credit. Scandalous indeed.
October 20, 2016 at 12:33 PM
Old Lurker
I am sure there are many interesting psychiatric cases to observe in Texas, so maybe it is not a total loss for them.
I do not advocate that your Rebel to the point of committing fraud. But surely the world would not grind to a halt if you were able to schedule a day or two extra for tourist time?
October 19, 2016 at 11:01 PM
Jay Simser
The Riverwalk is a lovely place…or it was when I was there. Just can simple some lovely Whiskey and watch people or take a ride on the river.. I love Texas. I have driven from Top to bottom and back…And then on another time I was From Dallas to Huston. I loved it.
October 20, 2016 at 7:26 AM
Urspo
Oh ! I have researched there is some local Texas whisky to try. I think this sounds more scrumptious than BBQ.
October 20, 2016 at 2:53 AM
anne marie in philly
#4 & #5 – oh so true. why don’t you bring a cowboy home?
October 20, 2016 at 7:25 AM
Urspo
Only if he plans on housecleaning.
October 20, 2016 at 11:11 AM
anne marie in philly
if he’s good looking in a pair of leather chaps and does housework, then YEE HAW! 🙂
October 20, 2016 at 3:02 AM
Raybeard
Twice you’ve used the word ‘succession’ in your text. First time I thought “He’s just confused it with another very similar-sounding word, so we can forgive him as it’s something we are all liable to do. Besides, we all know what he means.” But blow me down if you don’t use the same word again! Unworthy as I am to carp at someone much more learned than my humble self, but is your use of the word an Americanism with precisely the same meaning as the one which I thought you’d meant to use? Please understand that I make my enquiry purely out of amicable curiosity. 🙂
Anyway, do have a great, ‘fun-filled’ gun-toting time in Lone Star. And if you bump into that bonny Texan lady, Renee Zell-whatever-the-rest-is, tell her that even with her transformed looks she’s still quite bonny, even if not quite so much as prior to the change.
October 20, 2016 at 7:21 AM
Urspo
oh the embarrassment. I have gone back to correct my word error.
I thank you sincerely to point out my boo-boo.
October 20, 2016 at 11:32 PM
Raybeard
OMG! (Thinks: “How can I let him know that he STILL hasn’t got the word right!”) Okay, here goes – SECESSION, not cessation! And you’ve got ‘succession’ in your final line as well. Sorry! – but I’ll shut up now. 🙂
October 21, 2016 at 8:40 PM
Urspo
Aye sir I’ve learned my lesson and I”ve had stern penance.
October 20, 2016 at 4:10 AM
David
San Antonia is fun, and even safer since my loony oldest brother moved away. Get out and see the river walk. The Alamo does not take long, as I recall their is a haunted hotel across the street from it. If there was a ballot measure to let Texas break off and form an independent country, I know how I would vote – I also think Mexico would like it back.
October 20, 2016 at 7:22 AM
Urspo
Ironically Texas was part of Mexico, until a bunch of American ‘illegals’ moved in and took over much to the dismay of the Spanish-Mexican government. If only they had built a wall…….
October 20, 2016 at 4:48 AM
Michael
If you do meet Texans on your journey, the odds are that you will find them charming individuals. The state motto is Friendship, and most Texans take that seriously. I come from a long line of Texans and grew up there, but I know that many of my state-mates, including some family members, incarnate the less savory qualities attributed to the state. The bragging and carrying on was all in good fun when I was a child. Today, sadly, too many Texans believe their own press releases and the friendliness has been replaced by an ill-deserved arrogance. At any rate, enjoy the charms of San Antonio, take a stroll along the Riverwalk, eat, drink and be merry.
October 20, 2016 at 7:24 AM
Urspo
The Board of Directors sent me a terse email telling me to start this entry with an apology this is a bit of humor not to be taken seriously.
I’ve learned a trick when traveling. When I announce “This is my first time (seeing Texas)” I suspect everyone will light up like Christmas trees and make certain I see them/the states as cordial. I don’t think anyone is actually going to shoot me – but I am keeping my “Vote Clinton” button at home notwithstanding.
October 20, 2016 at 9:28 AM
Michael
Oh, trust me, since Texans claim that everything there is bigger, I assure you that asininity ranks right up there. You can expect to encounter some of it in the atmosphere if not in specific Texans you meet.
I had started to include in my earlier comment a modified few lines from the Mary Poppins song, “Sister Suffragette” to the effect that, “Though we adore Texans individually,/ We agree that as a group they’re rather stupid.”
But it struck me as unkind.
And no apology needed. I understand and appreciate your wit. And my Texan mother raised me to be a gentleman. 😉 Or, as we say, Mama tried.
October 20, 2016 at 10:54 AM
Practical Parsimony
You now have two wrong words! You have cessation which means to end. Then, you have succession. You mean secession–from a learned one who actually knew this word in eighth grade.
October 20, 2016 at 11:03 AM
Urspo
Yikes! indeed I have bungled again! Thanks for the shout-out.
I will keep the error as it is , as I’ve discovered when I fix them then the comments seem unclear making references to something not there.
October 21, 2016 at 9:40 PM
Practical Parsimony
I have read posts and articles referencing wrong spelling or punctuation which obviously has been corrected. In order not lead people astray on spelling, why not do a cross through and correction after it. Or, just put the correct word in parentheses. This is a teachable moment.
October 20, 2016 at 3:53 PM
Steven
Regardless of how you feel about Texas, you should take the time to experience it. That way you report to us your experiences and say to us, “This ain’t my first rodeo!”
October 20, 2016 at 4:41 PM
Ron
I’d rather LA. Have fun!
October 21, 2016 at 4:09 AM
Kato
I hope you post your impressions of Texas. It sounds so full of juxtapositions and almost like it’s a part of a parallel universe.
October 21, 2016 at 6:31 AM
larrymuffin
Bon voyage and enjoy the tamales.
October 21, 2016 at 7:03 AM
Erik Rubright
You’ll be this close to me! | |