When you're from
Texas, people that you meet ask you questions like, Do
you have any cows?" "Do you have horses?" "Bet you got a bunch of guns,
eh?"
They all want to know if you've been to Southfork. They watched Dallas.
Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Look at
Texas with me 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 as anyone anywhere in the world looks at it 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 might get it
maybe after a second or two, but who else would? And even if you do,
does it ever stir any feelings in you?
In every man, woman and child on this planet, there is a person who
wishes just once he could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or
ride off in a pickup. There is some little bit of
Texas in everyone.
Did you ever hear anyone in a bar go, "Wow, so you're from Iowa? Cool,
tell me about it?" Do you know why? Because there's no place like
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 instead to fight and die for
the cause of freedom. We send our kids to schools named William B.
Travis and 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 be heroes.
John Wayne paid to do the movie himself. That is the Spirit of
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 Crockett National
Forest.
Texas is breathtaking mountains in the 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, not even Mexico.
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, ZZ Top, Eric Dickerson, Earl
Campbell, Nolan Ryan,
Sam Rayburn, George Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson, and George W. Bush.
Texas is great companies like Dell Computer,
Texas Instruments and
Compaq. And LOCKHEED MARTIN AEROSPACE,! Home of the F-16 Jet Fighter and
the JSF Fighter.
Texas is NASA.
Texas is huge herds of cattle and miles of crops.
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 Old San Antonio River Parade in San
Antonio.
Texas is ocean beaches, deserts, lake s and rivers, mountains and
prairies, and modern cities.
If it isn't in
Texas, you probably don't need it.
No one does anything bigger or better than it's done in
Texas.
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, California, or
Maine and your state flag, whatever it is, goes at 17 feet. You fly the
Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview, or anyplace
else, at 20 feet, the Lone Star flies at the same height - 20 feet. Do
you know why? Because it is the only state that was a republic before
it became a state.
(Note from GranGran: I've thought the above statement was true for as long as I
can remember but it just "AIN'T" so according to
Snopes.
Guess you're never to old to learn something new.)
Also, being a Texan is as high as being an American down here. Our
capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the 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 came on. That's the best part, right there.
Texas even has its own power grid!!
If you are a
REAL TEXAN
you won't even need to be told to pass this
on!
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