God Save Texas

Way, way, way back in the day, I would have never thought that I would be living Texas. (There are a lot of things that I wound up doing that have been inconceivable way back when.) But here I am…in Texas. And today marks my sixteenth anniversary of having set foot on Texas soil.

My introduction to Texas was through Lubbock, where I would wind up living for the next five years. The locals called it “Dirt City,” for the frequent dust storms it had, which also had it taking first place in the America’s Toughest Weather City in 2013, edging out Fairbanks, Alaska.

Driving cross country to Lubbock was an unforgettable experience, as well as my introduction to the vastness of Texas. My ears popped as my small Scion tC coupe climbed up the Caprock Escarpment to a vast expanse of flatness at 3202 feet above sea level. And there was Lubbock, smack dab in the middle of the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains).

Lubbock was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The area was so desolate that the first thing that popped up in my head, while crossing this vast terrain, that there was no shortage of places to hide a dead body. But there was a certain beauty in this desolation. Its average of 264 sunny days a year (higher than the national average of 205 days) and semi-arid climate did much to improve my mood, and was a greatly welcomed change from the constantly dreary overcast and precipitous days in the small southeastern New England coastal town.

There was something about Lubbock that grew on me, and that I still find endearing. Lubbock was my first introduction to Texas and Texan culture. It was a completely alien and refreshing experience from the New England Yankee culture.  Cowboy hats and cowboy boots were actually normal daily attire and not just reserved for costume events. The people were the friendliest and most polite I’ve ever encountered. Absolute strangers went out of their way to help us. 

But as endearing and fascinating this new land was, I knew enough to keep my mouth shut about certain things, such as my having voted for Obama. Unlike largely liberal New England, Texas is conservative in both politics and religion. While the larger cities may have considerably more left leaning populations, the overly abundant rural areas are most definitely red. That is especially obvious when I make my annual pilgrimage from Houston to Austin.

Given the current political and social climate, this is a huge area of concern, especially since this is my adopted state. And despite the sociopaths and psychopaths in charge, and the extremely parochial and easily brainwashed sheep who keep re-electing them, there is actually a lot to love about Texas. 

When I hear left leaning folks saying, “I could never live in Texas,” I see it as something more than just merely stating an opinion. It’s a totally self-centered statement shows insensitivity towards those who don’t have the resources to escape the chaos, oppression, and hostility unleashed against women, people of color, the poor, Muslims, Asians, the educated, etc  — against basically anyone who is not a male Christian Nationalist Fascist. And it breaks my heart when these people also refers to Texas as “Texass.”

And there are plenty of folks who don’t want to leave Texas, like Lawrence Wright, the author of God Save Texas - A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State. Wright is a Texas native who has made his home in Austin. He is someone who loves the Lone Star state, but is also deeply concerned about the direction in which it is heading.

Eyes are on Texas. According to the  book’s blurb, “Texas looks a lot like the America that Donald Trump wants to create.” Truer words could not have been written. Even though the cities are largely blue and diverse, Texas is pretty much red, with the vast majority of its conservative voters coming from the rural areas, which are isolated and which make up the bulk of this very huge state.

Wright writes, “Because Texas is a part of almost everything in modern America — the South, the West, the Plains, Hispanic and immigrant communities, the border, the divide between the rural areas and the cities — what happens here tends to disproportionately affect the rest of the nation.”

There is a lot to be concerned about, especially in these very surreal times and the political theater of the absurd that is currently playing. And I’m very concerned about the direction this state, as well as this country, is careening towards.

But at the same time, not only is America my adopted country, Texas is my adopted state. And in the words of Maddie Quimper, a character in James Michener’s Texas, “I like it here.”