Not long ago I was accused of being a Texas-hater. Evidence was even created to prove the case. Those who read carefully, of course, know that I expressed no such sentiment, but merely expressed the observation that every state that we visited on our summer vacation was beautiful, but that there was not one speck of beauty on the very long road that we drove from New Mexico to our house.
I have decided to counter the false charges that I hate Texas with a series of posts giving “Twelve Things I Like About Texas.” These are not the only twelve things I like, but they are all true. This is not a plea for you to come live here, nor is it a statement that we ‘ll be living here in more than 2 years, 8 months and 6 days from now. It’s a simple expression of some things that I like about life that, while not necessarily true of all of the state, is certainly true of our little slice of Texas.
1. I must start with the bike trail. We live about half of a mile from a creek along which the city has developed a nice recreational area, including a path for walking and bike riding. Since my knee injury nearly a year ago, I have taken up bike riding. I don’t ride that far or that long, but I do enjoy riding along this path next to the creek, which widens into a mini-lake at one point, with its gentle curves and scenic views. Unfortunately I do not have a good photo of this. It’s much more beautiful than you would know from this photo I grabbed as the sun was going down last week.
2. I like the motorcycle helmet laws in Texas. There are none. I don’t ride a motorcycle, but I appreciate the fact that Texas is smart enough to not violate my personal freedom. Now if they would only repeal the seatbelt law and sue the federal government for infringement of states ‘ rights. I might wear a seatbelt if it was not required, but I truly despise the mentality which thinks that such a choice is not a matter of personal freedom. (Two comments: don’t argue with me here about seatbelt laws; if you disagree with me, you are wrong. And I do wear a helmet while riding my bike, especially because there is no law that requires me to.)
I get the feeling that we the readers are going to have to do a lot of work to sort out sincerity from sarcasm in this series of blogs.
It shouldn’t be that hard. It’s mostly sincere, so if you’re not sure, interpret it as sincere.
My apologies. The “created” photo (lucky the shirt didn’t catch on fire from the cigarette) and the NASA-like precision of your countdown made me think we were in for some Texas tall tales.