Texas 175th Birthday

I am proud to be a Texan.

We Texans usually have more hubris than folks from other states.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact our state was once a soverign nation.  Perhaps it is just our nature to be independent in thought and action.  Perhaps it is because our state is just so doggone big (anyone who has actually spent a couple of days of travel from East Texas to West Texas on I-10 knows this).  Whatever it is, there is something unique about our state.

And I am proud of it.

I've even got enough hubris to own a t-shirt which has an oversized Texas overshadowing the rest of the U.S. that has bold letters over the state which says "TEXAS".  Arrows point to the remaining states with the words, "Who cares?" attached.

Now, this doesn't mean that I, or any other Texan for that matter, aren't proud Americans.  Generally, we are.  We're proud of our nation, but we are doubly proud of our state.  It, like our nation, was born with blood-shed as a people rebelled against a tyrant: a tyrant named Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

With Santa Anna's army occupied with the defenders of the Alamo, on this date, representatives from around the state gathered at Washington on the Brazos--a site not to far from where I write this--to sign a document declaring Texas' independence from Mexico. 

A few weeks from now, that independence was won when Sam Houston's army surprised Santa Anna's army at the Battle of San Jacinto, north of Houston.  The blood spent by Texans and Tejanos fertilized the birth of a state full of pride and honor and culture.

Not everything has been perfect.  Somewhere along the line, some forgot that Tejanos (Mexican-Texans) fought alongside Anglos to help win the state's independence.  At one time, (and in the minds of some still) Tejanos were seen as second class citizens.  But I am thankful this mindset is starting to fade away.  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that in a few short years Latinos will be the majority of the state's population.  But those demographics shouldn't matter as Texans share a deep legacy of standing tall, proud, and oftentimes alone when others bolt and run.  It's in our DNA, and that runs deeper than the color of one's skin.

We've had our political scandals as well.  Dead people have been known to vote.  Candidates for governor have been known to say improper things around campfires.  Everyone has a skeleton in his or her closet.  But who else doesn't?  We're just a little more brazen about such things.  Everything is bigger in Texas.

And we like it that way.

We may have hubris, but there is also a sense of awe and wonder when it comes to things.  And it's big too.

You can't walk in the grounds of the Alamo without feeling it.  You can't gaze at the stars in the dark skies of West Texas without feeling it.  You can't stand on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico without feeling it.  You can't stand at the top of Enchanted Rock without feeling it.  You can't drink a margarita on the Riverwalk in San Antonio without feeling it.  You can't stand in a field of cotton on the Coastal Plain with the wind ripping at your clothing and blowing your hair to kingdom come without feeling it.  You can't cross the border from New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisians, Arkansas, or Mexico without feeling it.  You are in Texas.  You are now a part of something larger and grander than yourself.  You can just feel it.

God bless you Texas,
And keep you brave and strong.
That you may grow in power and worth
Throughout the ages long!