Texas is such a unique place to live. In the eastern area, it is like the deep south with thick forests and bayou. West Texas is part of the southwest desert region. In the north, there are high plains and is part of Tornado Alley. Central Texas has rolling hills covered with oak trees. There is also the big city life. Three out of the top 10 most populated cities are in Texas. (Houston #4, San Antonio #7, and Dallas #8). Where we lived, it's like an American version of Mexico. We lived near orange groves, sugar cane fields, and palm trees. You could split Texas up into 4 states and each one would be unique and as big as most western states.
Having said all that, it truly is it's own country. Literally, it was the Republic of Texas before it was the state of Texas. Therefore, it is proper to fly the Texas flag at the same height as the US flag (unlike other state flags).
Texas has on a culture all it's own. It's been said that Texas is so cool, it's the only state that has it's own toast. Texas pride starts at an early age. At the beginning of each elementary school day, my boys would recite the pledge of allegiance, have a moment of silence (Texas' response to the removal of prayer from public schools), and then they would repeat the Texas pledge of allegiance. "Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."
It's just not the geography or the culture. Only three out of my five kids were born in Texas, but all of them were babies there. Each of them learned to walk in Texas. Ethan pointed out it is where most of the boy's childhood took place. I feel like I grew up there too. We were so young when we moved there. We had a baby boy, few possessions, and all the faith we could muster. It's where I found myself. It's where I truly became commited to the gospel. Living in Texas changed my political and social views. It made me who I am today. I learned to love the Hispanic culture and language (Kind of. My Spanish still isn't great.) All of our relatives lived 1800 miles away from us. The people of south Texas became our family in so many ways.
Therefore, after driving through the night, when we saw the sun rise over the Texas horizon it felt like we were coming home.
1 comment:
You can fly any state flag at the same height as the US flag. The US flag has to have the position of honor at the right.
Read the section under outside display.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Flag_Code
I had heard the thing about Texas being the only state that can fly its flag as the same height of the US flag, but it isn't the case.
If you are queasy about wikipedia, google US flag code you'll find the actual code. Wikipedia is just easier sometimes.
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