The Fifteen (#12)

repeat…over the course of the final fifteen days of 2009,   i’m going to let you in on fifteen things that need to change in my life in the coming year.   fifteen decisions that i am making that reflect things that are important to me.

i’m going to go waaay out on a limb.   i’m going to give you my best shot at honest transparency, in an attempt to be held accountable.  some things will be  about my spiritual journey…others are simply improvements to the life i walk.   either way, they are important to me…and here’s the next one on the list:

change number twelve

growing up in california, it was a requirement to take a class or two on the history of california.  i can honestly tell you that after living there for forty years, i know little or nothing about the state.

it’s not that there isn’t any history to know, it’s just that it was never very important to know it.

not true for texas.

i think one of the most astounding things we have experienced in our fifteen years of living in the great state, is the incredible pride that native texans take in their history.

(by the way, for those of you that want to know, i generally refer to texas as “the great state”.  that comes from my favorite texas radio sports talking head, randy galloway.  when he signs on to his daily sports show, he refers to texas as “the chicken-fried nation” or “the great state of confusion”.   randy is one of my texas heroes.  you should listen to him sometime…)

so in honor of my new home state, i am going to learn me some texas history.

i want to learn about stephen f. austin and sam houston and the alamo and the lousiana purchase and the mexico-texas truce.  i want to learn why there is such a fierce loyalty to the state and why there are still texans who want to secede from the union.

i want to learn about the texas rangers and texas militia.  i want to learn why people stopped in dallas to build a city here.  i want to know what role texas played in the civil war.

i’ve lived here long enough.  i’m going to visit some museums.   i’m going to the jkf memorial.  i’m going to visit the texas music hall of fame.   i’m going to discover the roots of  t-bone walker and willie nelson and buddy holly and waylon jennings.

i want to know the historical roots of two of the greatest television shows of all time:  walker, texas ranger and dallas.

why?  because i can.  and i live in texas.

anybody want to be my guide?  anybody want to tell me why carrollton doesn’t have a sign on the highway stating, “carrollton, texas…home of vanilla ice” ??

join the journey.

#history #texas