It doesn’t look like I’m going to have much time to write about our long summer drive, not to mention the fact that I’m forgetting what I was going to write about. But I haven’t forgotten how beautiful everything was. Truly, the West is beautiful. (The East cannot compare.) I think that every state was beautiful: New Mexico – beautiful mountains, Arizona – the big ditch, California – north of Redding, Oregon – crater lake, Idaho – mountains and rivers, Utah – best in the US?, Colorado – really big mountains. But something struck me, and this is not contrived and does not reflect a bias. Once we crossed the Texas state line, things got ugly. And stayed ugly. We drove many, many hours in Texas to get back to DFW. We didn’t see one second of beauty. True story.
Grand Canyon, Arizona
Rogue River, Oregon
Garden of the Gods, Colorado
With Randy and Phyllis at their cabin in Idaho
Thanks for the photos, Todd! Seriously, the photo of the Cooks and your kids and Kelly made me cry. Hope you don’t mind, I’m setting it as my background image for a while. Blessings be on you all!
Grace – thanks for the blessings and I’m glad you like the photo! The kids are in their swimsuits because right behind me (holding the camera) is the river.
“…and this is not contrived and does not reflect a bias.”
NONSENSE!
Craig – I have five witnesses, not counting the Lord. I’m sorry if the truth hurts.
REALLY, REALLY!? You go through all those western states and you miss the best and most diverse one? I can’t believe it! NEVADA IS THE BEST! Someday, someday, you will come and see that it has as much beauty (but not as much sentimental connection) as Israel! I once heard an IBEX prof. tell his whole class that Israel and Nevada were the same. ;) But, ssshhhh, don’t tell anyone!
I’m only a little bit jealous that you guys got to see the Cooks (and probably eat her yummy peanutbutter bars)!
Yea for the Cooks!
And I like the new blog layout.
I’m not questioning your opinion of beauty or lack thereof: I’m calling you out on the nonsense of suggesting that it does “not reflect a bias.” That’s just SILLY.
Ugly only happened when you crossed the state line? Your anti-Texas bias is showing through the very thin veneer of objectivity that you proclaim.
AND, that you didn’t see “one second of beauty” in all those hours of driving might suggest more about YOU than it does about Texas! Perhaps you were road weary by that time. Perhaps you were too captivated by the narrator of the Left Behind audio series to pay attention to what was flying past your windows. Perhaps you’re just cranky because your anti-Texas bias is so easily exposed. Perhaps you forgot to take your George Strait, Strait from the Heart of Texas cd on this particular road trip. (I think I’ll go listen to mine, now.)
Having said all that, give me the route(s) you took leaving and returning, and I will direct your attention to some thing/locations in which even YOU, the hater of Texas that you are, could find some beauty – at least a second or two. :-)
Todd-
I just want to say that I agree with your comments about driving through Texas as objective, fair, and true.
Glad the rest of your trip was great. Jealous you got to visit the Cooks.
Craig – ok, there was a slight vagueness with my comment about the stateline. Here is how it actually went (but this way of stating it is not quite as interesting): beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, oh we’re in a city called “Texline, TX” and it’s not beautiful. It never got beautiful again. So perhaps the actual border of the state was a few miles before the town and some of the beauty of New Mexico crept across the line. I wasn’t expecting such a phenomenon, so I wasn’t paying that close of attention.
I don’t think any of your suggestions about my blindness are true, though I admit that Texas is more beautiful when I listen to country songs–that is, in my mind, I perceive Texas as beautiful. And maybe it’s beautiful in a million places. Just nowhere along the road from Texline to Amarillo to Wichita Falls to Plano on August 7.
As for who loves Texas and who hates it, I humbly submit that I am a true lover of Texas and you are not, for actions speak louder than words, and I live here.
Ilena – I have been in Nevada many times before, and it is interesting that we could see all of those states and not even get a view into Nevada anywhere. Honestly, I have a similar opinion to what I expressed about Texas above – state lines for Nevada were drawn in a certain way by other states. But I am quick to confess that I have not seen enough of the state to know that that is true. But it does make one wonder why Nevada is always proposed as the place for nuclear bomb testing and nuclear waste dumping!
Texas is Beautiful, A Response
“As for who loves Texas and who hates it, I humbly submit that I am a true lover of Texas and you are not, for actions speak louder than words, and I live here.”
Ask the guys living in the Polunsky Unit if living somewhere necessarily demonstrates loving it!
Craig – we are not in prison, and neither are you. We are here by choice, and you are not here by choice.
Your post is quite touching. It certainly brings to mind others we know who seem to love Texas for the strangest of reasons. You are quite right about the beauty of steaks. And if I had seen a steak (medium rare, thank you) on our drive, this post never would have been written. But seeing a dirty cow is not the same as seeing a steak.
As for the longhorn, I wouldn’t deny that it has a certain beauty. But 1) you don’t know that I saw one; 2) if we include mobile creatures in our definition of what makes land beautiful, then pretty much every inhabited place is beautiful and it’s useless to speak of one place as beautiful and another as not.
Of course, to all objective observers who compare your two pictures to mine, I need say nothing at all!
“But seeing a dirty cow is not the same as seeing a steak.”
I laughed out loud on that one!!! :)
“Of course, to all objective observers who compare your two pictures to mine, I need say nothing at all!”
Hey Tex, I’ve already conceded that there isn’t a comparison between the photos each of us provided. That wasn’t my point, and you know it, which shows that like a good cowboy you’re stubborn and you’ve really got your heels dug in on this one: This is fun!
“You are quite right about the beauty of steaks. And if I had seen a steak (medium rare, thank you) on our drive, this post never would have been written.”
So, you’re hating on Texas because you didn’t get a steak on the drive? Again, you must have been asleep at the wheel because you drove right past this place.
Here’s the map for your next trip.
“As for the longhorn, I wouldn ‘t deny that it has a certain beauty. But 1) you don ‘t know that I saw one;…”
I’m certain you didn’t see one, but the point is this: since there are several ranches like the one in the photo, you should have seen at least “a second” of one of them. And that brings us to the heart of the matter, which is: WHY didn’t you?
The answer is pretty clear to me. I was starting to waiver in my position until “someone sent me” this photo, which I thought was fake, but now, I’m not so certain. :-)
Anyway, just to extend a hand of Texas hospitality and friendship: When you are here in January, you’re invited over for a steak AND to see my Texas memorabilia wall. But, PLEASE, don’t wear that t-shirt! :-)
Craig – I know when I’ve been beat, or at least exposed, and there’s no sense in contesting it any longer. That photograph is incontrovertible evidence, though hopefully my friends won’t look too closely at it and discover other skeletons in my closet. As for the invitation for a steak dinner, I enthusiastically accept. If the wages of Texas-bashing is steak, I should hone my technique!
Ewwww! Medium rare! You might as well eat it on the hoof!
“it is interesting that we could see all of those states and not even get a view into Nevada anywhere.”
-That is because we have so many beautiful mountains to block out all the smog from California and all those nasty trees from Oregon. Sheesh! Those trees just clog up a lovely view of the wide open spaces!
“But it does make one wonder why Nevada is always proposed as the place for nuclear bomb testing and nuclear waste dumping!”
-It’s because of people like you who think that our state isn’t worth anything. Just because other states have more powerful Congressmen, they like to bully the “little” states around! How about, since you don’t like Texas, and it is, admittedly, ugly, and large, we just send all of the Nuclear Waste to your state! The longhorns won’t mind. They might even taste better and be more highly visible (Glow in the dark cows, anyone?) :)