what do you love about texas?

[canvasbck]

I think one of my favorite adopted Texans said it best in song.
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Here's one by a native Texan, with a pretty neat slideshow. This song popped into my head as soon as I read the thread title.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGukLuXzH1E

[aaangel]

what do you love about texas?

I'm from Brooklyn! the best thing for me is..... LOTS and LOTS of PARKING!

nooooyoookers, you know what i mean.

[OldCannon]

One of my favorite things:

Every three years, if you get a speeding ticket, Texas not only lets you get it dismissed, they ALSO give you a 10% discount on your car insurance

Seriously though, I love how friendly and helpful the people here...well, except Houston...I lived there for 6 years and I met FAR too many people who were downright MEAN. Of course, if Bill White was my mayor and Sheila Jackson Lee was my congressional rep, I'd be mean too

[G.A. Heath]

When I go somewhere else I am constantly reminded that its not Texas.

[cheezit]

ive been here for 4 years. so far all I can say is my truck fits in the parking spots at homedepot and I have not wanted for a job. lots of work.
O and I almost forgot... knowing texas wont ever fall in to the ocean and we all know why.

[Lefty Writer]

As so many posts have indicated......it's Texas!

[Hoi Polloi]

The Cavenaugh Flight Museum.

I've not been there but I loved the Frontiers of Flight tour I went on. A veteran told us about his experiences being a pilot in WWII and ended his talk with a recitation of the poem High Flight. It's one of those experiences that remains etched in my memory. Very solemn and profound.

[Jim Lockey]

East Texas

[mgood]

ive been here for 4 years. so far all I can say is my truck fits in the parking spots at homedepot. . . .

I recently spent three years in San Diego, CA. (Native Texan who has always lived here other than that time.)
We take our wide open spaces for granted. Out there, I was surprised to see as many full-sized pickups and full-sized SUVs on the road there as in, say, Dallas. But the places you have to drive and park are just not really built for them. I drive an extended-cab, half-ton Chevy pickup. It was a challenge to get through the drive-through at Wendy's. Just finding a drive-through ATM was tough, at least half the banks don't have drive-up tellers either. Parking spots were always a squeeze. Even at Home Depot, where one could logically expect to find full-size pickups, if two full-sized trucks are parked next to each other, and they're both centered in their parking spots, you would have to be very skinny to get in and out the doors between them.

People I knew out there seemed just as friendly and helpful as people here, and just as willing to help a stranger too. (That surprised me a little.) But they don't show an open friendliness, if that makes any sense. If you smile or nod or wave or say "hi" to random people you pass them on the sidewalk, they look at you strange like they're trying to figure out if they know you from somewhere or if you're just a freak. I felt like Mick Dundee when he was walking down the street in New York greeting everyone and they acted like he was from a different planet. Sitting at a stoplight, I make eye contact with someone, and out of habit, I'd wave or smile and nod. They'd either wave and then look confused, like "Do I know you?" or they'd quickly look away and make a point of not looking again in your direction.

[VoiceofReason]

I wasn’t born in Texas but I got here as quick as I could. 40+ years ago and I love this state. I will be buried here. Does that make me a Texan?

[cougartex]

[glbedd53]

Houston and Dallas are about the only things about Texas I don't like,and the humidity. As much as I like Hawaii there is no way I would live there especially after having a CHL. My family would have to be starving before I would live in California or any northern state. I've known a lot of people from those places and their brains are just put together different. If I had to go somewhere else it would be Arizona right about now.

[bnc]

I wasn’t born in Texas but I got here as quick as I could. 40+ years ago and I love this state. I will be buried here. Does that make me a Texan?

Absolutely. And that is because Texas is filled with some of the least bigoted and most accepting people in the country. Being a Texan is about spirit, mindset, and decency, and people that embrace Texas are welcomed regardless of their background. You'll find that many of those who feel strongly about being a Texan are often those that consciously chose to be one. Yankee by birth, Texan by choice.






Now if we could just head up to Utah, Colorado, or Idaho and drag some of those mountains and cool weather back down here I'd be all set.


I can even tolerate living in Houston. If I'm going to be miserably hot, sweating constantly, and stuck in traffic, I'm at least going to do it in Texas where everything is air conditioned, nobody is honking, no state income tax, and nearly a dozen gun ranges within a half hour's drive.

[mgood]

Now if we could just head up to Utah, Colorado, or Idaho and drag some of those mountains and cool weather back down here I'd be all set.

When we take back the territory Texas claimed befor the Compromise of 1850 . . .

[MadMonkey]

Been here all my life... born in San Juan, moved to Mission, moved to Luling, moved to Kirbyville, moved to Muldoon, moved to Grapevine... all with stretches of living in Mexico for a few months at a time since my parents were missionaries (my brother took over, he's leading a mission trip in Cuba right now).

I love everything about Texas. You can find every kind of scenery, huge variety in wildlife, every kind of weather, and every kind of person.

I will say I've been tempted to try living in another state, but every time I take a trip I'm reminded of how great it is here. We have decent road signs (and roads), nicer people, better laws, more friendly law enforcement, and better food

California may have more military bases, but I guarantee we're more proud of ours