[lifesaver]

I love texas. I cant express it better than that. I love being texan. I often imagine that I was born and raised elsewhere and wish that I was born here. Then I remember that I was born here and thank god everyday that I was. We have a sense of identity. Bigger than just being American. I am glad to be american, but proud to be a texan. The spark you get in your eye when you see the Texas flag waving proudly against a crisp blue cloudless sky on an October morning. The excitment of elementary school kids first learnign of Stephen Fuller Austin (the father of Texas). The Bone Chilling Gosebumps one gets when they step onto the grounds of the Alamo. The hereoism and sacrifice is almost palpable. Deep Ellum. Mi Tierra. At the drycleaners, "Heavy starch on everything." Being willing to try anything. The wind encompassing you as you stand, looking oceanward at JP Luby state park in Corpus. Wheatfields. Las Colinas. Having a love hate relationship with Love Field. Understanding Love Field is the same place as Hobby Airport, just in Dallas. Redwings and khakis. Enchaliadas. Mo-Pac traffic. The feelign that you can see into forever looking out over the plains and praries of west texas. Quanna Parker. Knowing aboout 50 people named either Quannah or Parker. The thunderheads that you feel will engulf everything you know around abeline. The antelope you see wondering around the canadian river in the panhandle. Being able to tell what part of the state a lady is from by the height of her hair. How anxious everyone on the coast gets when theres a tropical depression in the gulf, and that 100 years later we still pay homage to the Galveston hurricane of 1900. Stockyards. Our capital. Venison. The first dip of the year in the guadalupe, and the feelign in it that you are connected to soemthing deeper, somethign longer, something almost primordial in you bones about the guadlup. HEB. Allsups. The UT/AM game. Texans who think they surf. Christmas day being 70 degrees. The chill of the beach in front of the Raddison on South Padre at Spring Break. The drive from San Antonio to Dallas, and understand that you are diving at 85 mph on the freeway up there, but cars will start to pass you around Waxahache -going 95. Its that thicket of pine trees around Brehenam that you dont understand how it got there. East texas vs. west texas accents. The cotton you see on the side of the highway around lubbock. Watchign yankees sweat as they eat picante sauce. Knowing kids who have never seen snow. The panhandelers on Guadalupe in austin. A people with an eye on the past and an eye on the future. Bayfest. Towns with wierd little names, like Noodle Doon, Pampa and Cut and Shoot. Schlitterbahn. Pronouncing Spanish names properly. El Paso being 1 hour from good snow skiing. A chicken fried steak the size of your head. Border towns. Knowing that Six Flags Astrodome is the grand Dame of theme parks. Recognizing a ranch by its brand. Texas wine. A place where schools are named after heroes of the Texas revolution. Grapefruit from the valley. Taco Cabana to 3 am, knowing NO ONE there is sober where "I'd like a breakfast taco combo, potato and egg, bean and cheeze." rolls off your tounge as easy as your name does. Friday night lights. The warmth of an afternoon in winter the day before a blue norther passes. Deer season. Low-water-crossings. Blinndergarten. Howl at the moon. Kerrville Folklife Festival. Perpetual construction. The golden triangle. Piney Woods. Not having to use the term "breakfast" when describing an egg and bacon taco. Homeade pico. Lake LBJ. Any lake in Texas. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion. Raising a finger (not the middle one) in salute to soemone you pass in the middle of west texas as a recognition that that is probable the only person you will see for an hour. Holdign doors open for ladies. The smell of fresh cut grass.... in January. Raspas on Alamo square. Oysterbake. Nuevo Laredo. Tyler rose festival. Beer cans that have the texas flag on them. WFAA. DFW. Winter Texans. Tornado Warnings. The riverwalk. Mountain Cedar. Closing the town because someone saw snow. Anna Nicole Smith. People who remember Braniff Airlines. People who flew Braniff Airlines. I still say its the Transco Tower. Dan Cook. Remembering that there was a time before liquor by the drink. Wurzfest. I-10, I-35, and I-45. Political scandal. Living and loving the lone-star. Everyone has a ranch, or knowing someone who has one. The Cotulla/Sarita checkpoints. Bocktoberfest. Chimineas. Westlake HS Football. Our state constitution with 350+ ammendments. Whataburger.