(via mi compadre Harold Cook)
If I owned Hell and Texas, I’d live in Hell and rent Texas.
- Gen. Phil Sheridan
There aren’t a lot of things I miss about Texas, but this time of year I do find missing something unusual: palm trees. Having grown up in northern Minnesota, where the only palm trees to be found were on episodes of Miami Vice, I adore palm trees. They symbolize everything that ISN’T where I grew up. No self-respecting palm tree would stand a chance in Hell of surviving a Minnesota winter. Ten years of living in Texas proved conclusively that where palm trees exist, there can’t be things like snow drifts, ice fishing, or snowmobile racing. You also won’t find frostbite, icicles, snowball fights, or Sorel boots.
If I thought a palm tree had half a chance of surviving, I’d put one in my front year here in Portland. For now, I’ll have to settle for a picture of something that actually makes me miss Texas, if only for a few fleeting moments.
At least I still have my boots, though….
