Texas

A friend of mine asked what it is really like to live in Texas. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of pride in Texas. Maybe its because I come from Massachusetts, but I just don't see what all the hype is about. Hopefully I will be moving back home soon. Until then let me see if I can give you a feeling for the great state.
Texas
It is Hot! Not warm or kind of sunny. Everyday is blazing. Don't turn on the hose and run your hands under it if it has been lying in the sun because it will give you third degree burns, kind of hot.
Thunder storms and tornadoes! Last week I had to leave my office and sit in a room with no windows for 40 minutes because we had a tornado touch down across the street from our building. The thunder is so loud it sets off car alarms and shakes your windows. Lightening strikes are common. We had a man die on a lake a week ago because he did not get off the lake fast enough and lightening hit his fishing rod.
"Turn around don't drown." This saying is repeated over the radio and television each time we have a storm. Rain condenses on the road so much that it will sweep a Dodge Ram pickup off the street. People drown on their street because they got out of their car when it got stuck in the rising water.
Emergency Broadcast SystemThe deafening tone that in MA we often turn down, actually means something in Texas. If you hear that tone you need to get your ass off of any ball field or lake you are on and find some shelter. If not you will end up like the man in the lightening story above.
Texas Shaped Everything. If you are eating a chip shaped like your state, then you must be in Texas. Bathroom sinks, house windows, trash barrels, candy, hair ties, pocketbooks. Whatever it is in Texas, it can be made into the shape of the state.
Words. A shopping cart or carriage is a buggy. A trash barrel is something on the side of your house. The small one under your desk is a basket. "Fixin to" means your about to do something. A "Whoppin" is something you give your child when they misbehave.
FootballHigh school football games are town wide events. Everyone comes to see the game even if they don't have children playing. Coaches can make 80 thousand a year. The teams go to games on tour buses and they don't play on fields near the school. They play in stadiums with booths for the announcers.
Don't get me wrong not everything about Texas is bad. Men are very nice in Texas. They hold doors, tip their hats, call you ma'am or darlin, offer to help you carry your groceries to your car and get things down from top shelves. There is something to be said for a southern gentleman.
Like I said hopefully I will be home for good, very soon! Until then, "Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one and indivisible." Yup they have their own pledge of allegiance too.