Born Again Texan!: A Newcomer's Guide to Texas

353 Pages·2000·1.17 MB·English

by  Robin Cole

Born Again Texan! : A Newcomer's Guide
title:
to Texas
author: Cole, Robin.
publisher: Republic of Texas Press
isbn10 | asin: 1556227302
print isbn13: 9781556227301
ebook isbn13: 9780585231334
language: English
Texas--Description and travel, Texas--Social
subject
life and customs, Texas--Guidebooks.
publication date: 2000
lcc: F391.2.C65 2000eb
ddc: 917.6404/63
Texas--Description and travel, Texas--Social
subject:
life and customs, Texas--Guidebooks.
Page i
Born Again Texan!
A Newcomer's Guide to Texas
Robin Cole
Page ii
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cole, Robin, 1942.
Born again Texan : a newcomer's guide to Texas / Robin Cole.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-55622-730-2
1. TexasDescription and travel. 2. TexasSocial life and customs
3. TexasGuidebooks. 1. Title.
F391.2.C65 1999
917.6404'63dc21 99-048505
CIP
© 2000, Robin Cole
All Rights Reserved
Republic of Texas Press is an imprint of Wordware Publishing, Inc.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means
without permission in writing from Wordware Publishing, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 1-55622-730-2
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
9910
All inquiries for volume purchases of this book should be addressed to
Wordware Publishing, Inc., at 2320 Los Rios Boulevard, PIano, Texas
75074. Telephone inquiries may be made by calling: [phone]
Page iii
Dedications
To Dixie who called me back to Texas
To Richard who actually fetched me
To Vic who gave me a reason to stay
To Alisa who always believed in me
To Jesse and Jade who showed me the way
To Ginnie Bivona who gave me a chance
To Karen Wright who believed I could write even
before I did write
To Victoria, Robert, Donna, Belle, Micky, Kari,
Sandy, Robin, Caren and Bob, Lisa, Kaycee,
Ann and John, Tedra and Neal for your support
and inspiration
To Cathy who gave me my title
And to Jon McConal who had the good sense to
never leave Texas for too long
Page v
Contents
A Born Again/Newbee Texan's Ten Commandments. 1
Texas Weather Watch 2
Learnin' Texanese 6
Texas Names 12
Texas Critters 16
Vehicles and Such 20
Things Found in the Back of a Pickup (Work) Truck 22
The Other Truck Types 23
Stayin' Alive While You Drive 25
Let's Fly Away! 29
Bluebonnets and Lady Bird 31
Growing Pains! 35
Loving Blooms at Yellowrose/Crossroads School 37
Head, Heart, Hands, and HealthThat's 4-H 40
Texas Cowboys 42
Let's Go Rodeo! 45
Rodeo Events and Terms (So's You'll Know What You're 49
Watchin')
Cattle Call For Stars 54
Top Ten Things That Make a Grown Male Texan Cry 56
Rain-chin' 57
Texas Females 64
Top Ten Things Found in a Texas Woman's Purse 67
Judging Books Without the Covers 68
The Lone Star Flag 74
State Symbols Well Known and Obscure 75
In the Beginning 77
Texas History (As Told by My "Gran") 80
Page vi
Texas Rangers (The Originals) 88
Famous Texans You Should Know 92
Real Texas Sportsmen/Sports Without Balls 95
The Reason for the Season 99
Not to Brag But Heck, Why Not? 107
The One Sport We Don't Take Seriously: Politics 109
On the Eighth Day God Created Texas 116
Holidaze 118
The Texas Music Mosaic 120
Texans in Country 121
Texas Rock 127
Tejano 130
Urban Cowboys 131
Music, Learnin', and Politics Here in River City 132
Megalopolis-Metropolis-Metroplex 137
Big D - Little a - Double L - A - S 138
Foat Wuth 142
Big and Beautiful on Buffalo Bayou 144
Galveston 146
Buenos Dias, Y'all 147
"A Whole Other Country"Almost Really 150
Small Towns Worth Your Visit 152
Funny Texans (I'm Related to Most of Them) 158
Loyalty 164
Chili for the Texas Soul: Random Acts of Kindness 166
Grocery Shopping Kindnesses 168
And If You Got Real Trouble 170
A Honky-Tonk Love Story 174
Texas Cuisine 175
Baffling Booze News 183
Someone's in the Kitchen with Me 186
Sweet Sorrow 212
Sources and Recommended Readings 214
Page vii
Introduction
The sun shot through the threatening storm clouds, making golden the
highway ahead of me. I crossed the state lineit was a mystical
experiencemy hair got big, I got my accent back, I laughed out loud,
and I was BORN AGAIN TEXAN!
I was the prodigal daughter, Houston bred, returning to my native
state after a mere thirty-year absence. I had escaped, I arrogantly
thought, right after college and headed for the "real world." I wanted
to see it all. If I had been rich, I would have traveled, but since I was
poor, I just moved and moved and moved some more.
I tried to live in states with no distinguishing geographic shape. You
know, those squares stacked in the middle of the weather map with
just two seasonswinter and the 4th of July.
I checked out the right coast and the left coast and overheard
pompous, uninformed comments about the Lone Star State. I lost my
accent and lived in glitter cities where it's hard to tell the real folks
from the plastic prop extras. I had my share of tofu, raw fish, imported
water, and toothpick sized vegetables.
I got used to being served in stores by kids with spiky, eggplant-
colored hair who talked on the phone, chewed gum, and couldn't have
recognized me in a lineup if I had shot themwhich I was tempted to
do.
Through a series of cosmic events, failed marriages, and corporate
downsizings, I joined thousands of others