My favorite Aggie joke? I’m sorry I don’t understand the question.
- Lyle Lovett (Texas A&M class of 1979)
If you mean whiskey, the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean that evil drink that topples Christian men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, shame, despair, helplessness, and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed to it with every fiber of my being.”
However, if by whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the elixir of life, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer, the stimulating sip that puts a little spring in the step of an elderly gentleman on a frosty morning; if you mean that drink that enables man to magnify his joy, and to forget life’s great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrow; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into Texas treasuries untold millions of dollars each year, that provides tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitifully aged and infirm, to build the finest highways, hospitals, universities, and community colleges in this nation, then my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favor of it.”
This is my position, and as always, I refuse to compromise on matters of principle.
- Armon M. Sweat, Jr. (member of the Texas House of Representatives, when asked about his position on whiskey)
Two days ago, it was 84 degrees and sunny in Austin with 22% humidity. I woke up back home in Portland this morning, where it was 41 degrees with 96% humidity…oh, and it’s raining all day long. Nice; I’m thinking I got the raw end of the deal….
It’s nice to be home, but I can tell that it’s going to take a day or two to reorient myself. I suppose getting home when my body thinks it’s 2am will do that.
For years now, I’ve written about how much I hate Texas. Our trip to Austin forced me to recognize a different, and far more honest, truth: it was easier for me to hate the place than to recognize reality. My hatred of Texas had less to do with the place than my memories of my own personal issues and struggles there before I move back to Portland. Truth be told, there’s a lot I miss about Texas. No, I wouldn’t move back to Houston on a bet, but that’s personal preference, not hatred. I just don’t like Houston (or Dallas, for that matter)- too big, too crowded, too uptight. The rest of Texas really is a pretty interesting place with a lot to offer, and being back there for a few days reminded me of that.
Our flight wasn’t scheduled to leave Austin until 7pm yesterday, so Erin and I drove 3+ hours to Houston. She’d never been there, nor had she ever seen the Gulf Of Mexico, so I took her to Seabrook and showed her the small town I lived in for 10 years. It was fun to be able to show her that part of my life, and it provided some closure for me. I feel as if I’m finally able to appreciate Texas for what it is instead of blaming the place for my personal problems. It feels nice to be able to enjoy Texas for what it is and leave it at that.
Now that I’ve finally been able to recognize and admit the truth to myself, I’ve discovered that there are a lot of things I really do love about Texas (and no, Houston, is not among them).
I could live in Austin…from October through March or April. I’ve been through enough Texas summers to want no part of Austin (or anywhere else in the Lone Star State) from April through September. Still, there’s a lot to be said for being able to go for a walk in your shirt sleeves at the beginning of March. Being back in grey, dreary Puddletown- as much as I love it here- is a bit of a downer after the past five days. It would be nice to figure out a way to split our time between Austin and Portland…no cheap proposition that, because the cost of housing in both place is ridiculous. And there’s Austin’s miserable- and quickly worsening- traffic situation.
Ah, but I digress….
Part of the reason I prefer Austin to Houston is that the people in Austin seem so much friendlier and relaxed. It’s not the people in Houston are rude (unless they’re behind the wheel of a car), but the Bayou City is a pretty crowded and uptight place. The majority White areas of town seem in so many cases like eight pounds stuffed into a five pound sack. The resulting stress makes for a populace that, on the whole, seems far closer to the emotional edge than Austin. I may be way off base, of course, but the people I ran across in Austin were almost uniformly friendly and relaxed. I kidded people there about Austin being like Portland with better weather…but that’s not altogether inaccurate.
On top of everything else, the amount of live music available in Austin- on E. 6th St. and other parts of town- is amazing. You could go months without paying a cover to see live music. Granted, most of it will be people you’ve never heard of, but there’s a lot of talent on stage in Austin on any given night- from jazz to rock to folk to country and more- and the most it will cost you is a beer or two. And anyplace where Shiner beers are readily available can’t be half bad, eh?
I definitely want to go back to Austin. It would be great to figure out how to spend more time there, but even if I’m never able to return, this trip helped me sort some things out. Even if nothing else had come out of our vacation, that made it worthwhile.
Now where in the Hell is the sunshine???
