Beautiful, Bones And All

I think that if someone has a good childhood, they will love the land they are born in. Not just the country but the state, the city, the place that they recall being in on birthdays and Christmas's. It will be a definable part of them, something they can't help feeling some pride for and possession of. Even if that place is a barren flatland, or has deadly blizzards, or has dangerous animals, or reeks of oil, or has criminal gangs: if there are memories and people there that one loves, it's home.

I was born in Texas. Like any true Texan, a fierce pride for my native state runs through my veins. When someone rags on Texas, it hurts. It's an attack. This place is my home, and that makes it personal. To quote the movie 'You've Got Mail' - "Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal." *

 People say that this state is 'too hot' or 'doesn't really have seasons' or 'doesn't have mountains or good beaches' or whatever. To which I think, So? If every place on earth had seasons and mountains and fewer days under one hundred degrees, wouldn't that be ... dull? Why would I ever want to travel to anywhere else if it were all the same? Besides, my Texas pride points out the state's rich diversity. From pine trees to hill country to flat lands to the coast to the changing weather, there's beauty and change and history. There's bluebonnets and mockingbirds, and be honest now: no other state has such a cool shape. That's not being biased, that's just fact.

This year, my beloved state has seen a terrible drought. Lakes and rivers are drying up. Grass is brown and trees are bare. Wildlife is moving closer to civilization in their quest for water. Yet even the bare bones of the land are beautiful to me. Texas isn't a state that just rolls over and gives up. Its people fought for it to be a state in the first place and their spirits aren't easily broken. This land will always be the place I was born in, grew up in, and call home, just as my parents and siblings do. There is love and laughter and natural marvels that I appreciate all the more for the drought and heat. I've been blessed to travel to many other states and even several countries outside the US. Each place has it's own special allure, history, messiness and endearment. If there are things I do not like about other places then at least I work at seeing the good as well. There's good in everything, if we really look. Why simply point out the bad, when in doing so it thrust darts into the heart of the person who loves that place?

To you who are from California, or New York, or someplace else that you feel is superior, remember this: you love your home state because it is just that; your home state. You love it because you were born there and grew up with that skyline or coastline or forest. I grew up under a wide open sky that spills over with a vast array of stars. It is an intrinsic part of me. It's personal, and I'm glad for that.

*quote from 'You've Got Mail', after Joe has closed down Kathleen's bookstore with his mega store:
Joe Fox: It wasn't... personal.
Kathleen Kelly: What is that supposed to mean? I am so sick of that. All that means is that it wasn't personal to you. But it was personal to me. It's personal to a lot of people. And what's so wrong with being personal, anyway?
Joe Fox: Uh, nothing.
Kathleen Kelly: Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.