Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
Posts: 3876

Most of you know that I was born in far northwest Texas (the Panhandle) and moved around all over Texasm Oklahoma , New Mexico and Kansas growing up. You are also probably aware that
most of my adult life was spent in the Dallas Area.

Dallas is a town that prides itself on being the financial, insurance and commercial center of Texas. It is a sophisticated fashionable city with untold wealth and is the center of the State's Aircraft and defense electronics industry which is why I was there.
But Dallas looks eastward for its paradigm and having been born in the west I longed for it when I retired. But I didn,t want to get too far from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex because I had three children there at that time and many friends. The question was
"Where does the west begin?"

The first time I rode through Parker County (where I live now) I knbew that I had found the West and was in it. There were four signs:

The West Texas Salute
When you meet a car or more likely a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer on a county road watch the driver's hands on the steering wheel. As he gets within your vision range he (or she for that matter) will almost imperceptibly raise one hand or maybe just a finger in greeting and salute. You are ex[ected to repeat his gesture. It is not that the driver knows who you are or desires to know you better . It is just an unconscious friendly greeting that is characteristic of West Texas that you will rarely see east of Parker County.

The Gun Rack
In about a third or a little more of the pickups you meet on a county road in Parker County and parts west you will see a gun rack in the rear view window with a rifle in the raqck--sometimes two. Usually it is a Winchester .30=.30 lever action rifle. It is there to kill "varmints"--being coyotes, buzzards, bobcats, an occasional wolf, rabid skunks, and maybe a puma if you live down in the Big Bend of the Rio Grande. It is against the law these days to kill nearly all of those "varmints" but the rancher doesn't care what you think about him protecting his stock and neither does the Game Warden usually. Incidentally these guns are always in the pickup and rarely does a West Texan lock his truck.
I asked a big rancher in Perryton Texas if he wasn't afraid of theft and his reply was "You think I live among a bunch of theives?"

The Dipper
Water is a scarce commodity in West Texas and ranches are large. Cattle are frequently provided water by means of a wind mill. You will see a steel windmill tower in West Texas pumping away with no human habitation within sight. If you ever get a chance go up to one of these and you will fins a tin cup or dipper hanging from the tower that is put there strictly for the benefit of
passing strangers. It may be (usually is) a tomato can with a contrived wire handle and it may be rusty and full of black widow spiders. Shake them out downwind, rinse the cup out at the faucet on the riser pipe and have a welcoming drink of good cool west Texas water.

Howdy--Come On In
If you should stop at a house and knock on the door you will usuall be greeted with "Howdy--Come on in" spoken as a continuing stream of words with no hesitation to see what you look like. In west Texas even today you don't need a reason to
come calling. In east Texas you will probably get someone peeking round the door to size you up.

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oxsan


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Last edited by oxsan on 03-27-2003 at 07:38 PM

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 2451

That last part sounds nice . . .

Jury's still out on drinking from a cup you just dumped black widow spiders out of though

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Registered: Jul 2001
Location: Disgusting den of creepitude
Posts: 10536

That would be better than drinking out of your hat.

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Rio de los Brazos de Dios
Posts: 3876

I cxan testify that it won't hurt you.

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oxsan


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Registered: Oct 2001
Location:
Posts: 18145

On the other hand, after scooping a multitude of dead squirrels and field rats out of the stock tank, I would not recommend that aquifer for a cool refresher on a hot day.

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