Independent Texas

Texas Republicans voted to nominate Ric Perry for his third term as governor. He wants Texas to secede from the U.S. and become an independent nation again. I thought that idea was settled by the Civil War, but Texans are not known for being reasonable. They will probably elect this nut again.

At dialysis yesterday the technician who stuck needles in my arm is from Ethiopia. She did not know that Texas was once an independent nation. On March 2, 1836, a group of men, all formerly from the United States, met at Washington-on-the-Brazos and declared Texas independent from Mexico. Nine years later Texas became the only state to join the United States by treaty.

(That lead to the Mexican War and other historical events. I’ll skip all that.}

At the retirement home where I live we celebrated Texas Independence Day with our dining room converted into a Western town, a “chuck wagon” barbecue, and cowboy hats, bandanas, and Texas flags on every table.

Of course, flags. When my grandsons came to visit from Chicago, they were surprised to see the Lone Star Flag of Texas all over town. Big buildings have two flagpoles with U.S. and Texas flags equally big and proudly flying side by side. Grandson Richard said, “I don’t even know what the Illinois flag looks like.”

Texans are different. I read in a recent magazine (Time or Newsweek, I can’t remember which) that environment can shape the way our brains function. That is definitely true of Texans. They don’t think like other people. They are absolutely convinced that Texas is the best place to live in the entire world, that Texas is the most beautiful state in the Union, and that Texas has the biggest and best of everything.

On a river cruise in Europe I had dinner one night with a couple from the Dallas area. From the choice of entrees, they selected cat fish. The waitress placed before them beautiful fillets with an exquisite sauce. The Texans were outraged. Cat fish was supposed to be fried!

In this Texas retirement home I pick up the menu and read, “Today’s entree: fried cat fish.” It happens every Friday.