This is my new state flag. Well, the flag isn't new, it's been around since about 1852. I'm the new one. See the map below? This is where I live: Odessa, TX
See this map? This is where I used to live....SW Washington State.
Do I sound a bit jaded? Somewhat annoyed? Ethnocentric about the NW? Well, now that you ask, I am. but, you know what? It's all in perspective...one's personal view...one's snobbish idea about where the BEST place to live is. I am not a snob. So, let me give you my take on Texas....(thanks for asking!).
Texas is now my home. I have practiced over and over to say that. To mean it...to appreciate what it means to say, "Texas is my home." Instead of saying things like, "Back home in Battle Ground"...I say, "Up in the NW where we used to live." I'm not always 100% accurate saying that, but it's becoming easier. I even correct folk when they refer to the NW as my home. This is not easy.
Born and raised in the NW, I never once thought I'd really...I mean..REALLY live anywhere else. Such goes life on life's terms, eh?
Jobs brought us here along with good friends who are native Texans. That, coupled with my husband's firm desire to live in the desert. He got his wish. I find myself asking him about once a week...I say, "John, are you really happy here?" His response is the same, "Yes, woman! Quit asking." Then, he smiles as only he can do and he gently asks me if I am happy. I wasn't for awhile. I missed everthing about the NW including, God forbid..the rain! Crazy, huh? Well, I did, I really did.
What I missed the very most was the family still living in the NW: my son, Tyler, my granddaughter, Elizabeth and grandson, Eli, their mom, Patti and a handful of really, really good friends. I missed knowing all of those family members and friends were just a phone call and a short drive away from me. I missed knowing that on Saturday, I was going to pick up the grands and do something wonderful with them. I missed their smiles and hugs and told myself there was always Skype, Facebook, Email and the regular old telephone to keep in touch.
I missed knowing that when I got into my car and pointed it left at the bottom of my driveway..that my car knew EXACTLY where it needed to go..without getting lost. I missed the junk stores I prowled. I just ... missed.
Little by little as I settled into my new home ( our house is beautiful brick in a newer quiet neighborhood),
as I hung pictures and placed family photos out to see and cry over (I am a little girl, after all), walked the dogs in the neighborhood and pushed myself to get out and meet people, I found myself changing. Now, I cannot say this is a miracle of a change...like I'm 1000% better, but I find I want to fit in to being Texan.
So, here's the perspective...Texas is:
flat, dry, hot, dusty, windy and you can't drink the water without a purifier system where we live.
Texans are: unbelievably friendly and helpful and gracious as they say 'Yes, M'mam"
Act 1 Lowe's : Texan lady talking to me....she visited the NW - got vertigo from so many trees. She felt suffocated without being able to see....forever. She felt "hemmed" in by the dark, overcast clouds and longed for the blue skies of Texas that seem to go on and on and on. She missed the heat...the sun and the desert landscape.
Act 2: JC Penney....lady says to me, "Where are you from? I love your accent." "From the NW", I respond. "I was there once a few years ago visiting a friend, I thought it was pretty, but I love the desert more and I didn't realize Y'all had accents." Perspective. I never once in my life thought anyone would not like the NW...snobbish of me. Ethnocentric of me.
Act 3: I love the blue skies that go on and on...and as they say down here in Texas...."I'm fixin' to call myself Texan!" Exit...stage left!
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