No Place But Texas

I love living in Texas. I can't imagine anywhere else that has the right mix of bravado, self-reliance, common sense, and sense of self. Of course it's not perfect. We have our share of idiots, assholes, and liberals (but I repeat myself...). Fortunately, the state is large enough that there's plenty of room for them to co-exist with the rest of us.

I truly value Texans' proclivity for and tolerance of indiviualism and self-expression. Here's a few examples.

Seen at the Southwest Airlines counter at Houston Hobby airport:

View when landing at the Preston Smith International Airport in Lubbock Texas

When you look at the message, it was not made by cutting down plants for the letters. It was made by cutting everything else away and leaving the letters. That took a lot of ingenuity, time, and ability. Look at the second picture and compare the message size with the farm house and adjoining buildings. The 'field art' is huge. The farmer who owns the field made the images. It's near the airport so all of the planes coming and going can see the message. It would be hard to land in Lubbock and not see this.

Finally, we have a sign in front of a furniture store at the intersection of Hwy. 290 and Hwy. 281 in Johnson City, Texas. In spite of the name, it's not really a city. It's more of a small town - population around 1200. In a small town environment such as that, it's difficult for merchants to specialize. They typically carry several types and lines of merchandise, as evidenced by this sign.

Here in Bergheim (population in the 1980 and 1990 censuses was 22) we have one general store. Opened in 1900, it provides fence-building supplies, feed, and dry goods, as well as the necessary grocery staples for local ranchers. The Bergheim General Store and Post Office was awarded a state historical marker in 1983.

Like most of the people around here, we don't live in Bergheim proper, but rather in the county outside the 'city' limits. Although civilization is encroaching (San Antonio is about 25 miles to the south, and heading this way fast) we still go to the Bergheim General Store for the four B's: Beer, Bait, Bullets, and Blue Jeans.

It just don't get any better than that...