Deep in the Heart of Texas

After living for several years in Nebraska, my family moved to Texas. My father had been transferred by his company. The house we moved into seemed huge to us as kids, and compared to where we had lived before, this new area was as flat as a table top. The schools where we had been going, were a little behind Texas schools, which left many of us scrambling to catch up, especially me. My new school classes were already doing multiplication and division, whereas my old school had not even started these. I had to memorize all of my times tables in one weekend in order to catch up to my class.

I remember that as we left Nebraska, my parents told us that they didn't get snow in Texas, so we sold, or gave away all of our sleds. Our first winter in the new home brought 6" of snow--more than they had had in a while. Needless to say, mom and dad had a lot of explaining to do to the now sledless children.

Talking to people in Texas was also a learning experience for us. The famous Texas Twang, or southern drawl, left us wondering what our new friends were talking about. It didn't take us long to catch on though, and even now, after 20 odd years away from Texas, I still revert to my own version when I am very "tarred" (tired). There are times that I miss Texas, and the people there, but I there are other places and people that mean as much or more to me now. Home really is where you hang your hat.