Welcome to Texas!

Greetings to all my Blog Around The World friends! I am sorry to be a bit late posting my Texas tour - I had a bit of miscommunication, but I am sure it was my fault - figures!

Anyway, welcome to the Great State of Texas!

Now, I know the other Texas sites will probably give you a lot of great Texas info, and I can't wait to read it all, but I thought I'd just tell you what it means to BE a Texan.

Bear in mind, I am not only a Texan, I am a seventh-generation Texan and a bona fide member of the Texas First Families. Pretty impressive, huh?

Everything is bigger and better in Texas. Why do we say that? I'll tell you why - we believe it!

We can't help it, though. It starts before we walk into school - especially if BOTH your parents are native Texans, too. And when you walk into that school, it intensifies!

As you've probably already found out, our capitol is the biggest of all the states. Not only that, our flag can be flown at the same height as the United States flag. Why? Because we're Texas, that's why!

Please don't take this as conceit. It really isn't. It's just who we are and what we're taught.

We appreciate that all the states of the magnificent country are special. We just like that ours could hold most of them. And, that we really could cecede from the rest of you and survive just fine.

Here are a few of my favorite Texas things:

Our state bird - the mockingbird - no other bird on earth can sing like this one. Even though they'll make off with your tomatoes and ruin your garden, nothing is prettier than the mockingbird song late in the evening.

Our state shell - the lightning whelk - so pretty and you CAN hear the ocean in it. This shell is only found on our Gulf coast.

Our state flower - the beautiful bluebonnet - a blue so blue it will hurt your eyes when you come across a sun-splattered field of them. No photo can do them justice.

There's so much more - real cowboys - do I need to describe this? Thought not.

Rodeos. The coast. Canyons. Deserts. Ranches. Flowers. Fruits. Three of the country's largest cities (Houston being the best one, of course!). Fairs. Longhorns. Roadrunners. Tex-Mex food.

Mostly, though, it's the people.

Even in the big cities, you'll find our native Texans to be kind, courteous, gracious, and welcoming. What are our big cities anyway? Small town people who relocated for work. We still have southern manners with a little bit of wild west attitude.

So, come on down, y'all, and stay a spell - enjoy the Lone Star State! After all, the word, "Texas," comes from "tejas" which means, "Friend."

You have a Friend in Texas :-)