What is Texas???

Folks who know me know just how proud I am to be a Texan (OK, adopted Texan, but a Texan nonetheless)!! But for those that don’t know why, take a look at the following…

Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Look at Texas just for a moment. That picture, with the Panhandle and the Gulf Coast, the Red River and the Rio Grande is as much a part of any Texan as anything ever will be. As soon as anyone anywhere in the world looks at it they know what it is. It’s Texas. Pick any kid off the street around the world and draw them a picture of Texas and they will know what it is. What do you think would happen if they were drawn a picture of some other state? They might get it after a moment or two, but who else would? And even if they do eventually recognize it, do you think it stirs as much feelings as when they see and recognize Texas?

In every man, woman and child on this planet that are not native Texans, there is a person who wishes just once they could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or ride off in a pickup across the vast plains and hills of Texas. There is a little bit of Texas in everyone.

Have you ever gone someplace outside of Texas and hear someone say, “Wow… so you’re from Iowa? Cool! Tell me about it!” No?!! Do you know why? Because there’s no place like Texas.

Texas is… the Alamo. 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, Texans, send our kids to schools named William B. Travis, 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 become heroes. John Wayne even paid money out of his own pocket in order to be in the film, “The Alamo”. That, my friend, is the spirit of Texas!

Texas is… Sam Houston capturing Santa Ana at San Jacinto.

Texas is… huge forests of Piney Woods like the Davy Crockett National Forest.

Texas is… breathtaking mountains in 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 in the U.S.

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, Joe Davis, Eric Dickerson, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan, Sam Rayburn, George H.W. Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson, and George W. Bush; just to name a few!

Texas is… great companies like Dell Computer, Texas Instruments, Compaq, Lockheed Martin Aerospace (home of the F-16 Jet Fighter and the JSF Fighter).

Texas is… NASA.

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 on Monday Night Football, and for the night in San Antonio for the Old San Antonio River Parade.

Texas is… oceans, beaches, deserts, lakes, rivers, mountains, prairies and modern cities.

If it isn’t in Texas, you probably don’t need it. Texas even has it’s own power grid!!

No one does anything bigger or better than it’s done in Texas…..

Our state capitol building is the only one in the country that is taller than our nations’ capitol building in Washington, D.C. And 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 became part of the United States.

And that’s the best part right there….

By federal law, Texas is the only state in the U.S. that can fly it’s 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. But here in Texas, you fly the Stars and Stripes at 20 feet and the Lone Star flag can also be flown at 20 feet!

Do you know why?…

Because Texas is the only state that was a republic before it became a state!

And why don’t I have any pictures of all these things Texas? …. Because a true Texan doesn’t need those pictures. They are in our minds, hearts and souls!

Maybe now you’ll have a better understanding of why Texans take so much pride in their state!!

And don’t be surprised if you’re greeted by a Texan and they say, “I’m from Texas! What country are you from?!”