Sunday's Internet Edition, 10:23 AM, September 7, 2008.
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| Knowing how to do the Chili Hula was not a requirement for Saturday’s ‘Smoke on the Water’ barbecue and chili cook-off in Aransas Pass, but that didn’t keep Robert Webb of Waco from trying to give ValueBank’s Sharon Sawyer a lesson. |
Let me start by telling you that it has been a good, a hectic, a fun, a frustrating, a great, week for us.
I’ll tell you about the good, fun, great part first. We attended the 75th annual meeting of The South Texas Press Association in San Antonio.
On Thursday I played in the Scoop Richards Scramble golf tournament. The tournament was held at the beautiful Pecan Valley Golf Club. It was a great and historic course having hosted the Texas Open and a PGA tournament before. Everything was great.
On Friday The Progress and The Index did very well at the Better Newspaper Contest
The Progress took a first place and several other awards.
The Index took three first places and several other awards including “The Sweepstakes Award”.
I am very proud of our great staff. They all make great efforts to provide our communities with the best newspapers possible.
So, I congratulate Bill, Janice, Patsy, Melissa, Russell, Josie and Amber for a job well done.
On the hectic, frustrating side, Sally and I drove up to Junction after the meeting. While there I had a flat tire. It took three tries on the cell phone to get the auto club and let them know where we were so they could send someone out to change our tire. But we finally got it done.
Back to the good side, we had dinner with friends and had a very pleasant evening.
Sunday we drove back to San Antonio and had a very nice birthday dinner for Sally.
Now back to the hectic, frustrating part. Coming home Monday, my low fuel light failed to come on and I had less gas than I thought.
After I let Sally off and headed to the office, I only went about six blocks and I ran out of gas. It was a busy street and I got some help right away. There are a lot of nice people out there.
I got some gas, then my check engine light came on, so I had to stop by the auto repair place.
On the good side, they got me in and out in a hurry and it was not anything serious.
So all in all it was more fun, less hectic, greater, less frustrating, and a better week than I probably let on.
I hope yours was good too!
RPR
Since I have sort of been out of pocket, let me share this little bit about Texas with you.
It comes from my friend Lynn Brisendine in Brownfield, Texas who got it from his daughter via e-mail from Colorado.
TEXAS:
When you’re from Texas, people that you meet ask you questions like....”Do you have horses?” Yup.
Bet you got a bunch of guns, eh? Of course.
They all want to know if you’ve been to Southfork. They watched “Dallas”.
Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Sure you have. Look at Texas just for a second. That picture, with the Panhandle and the Gulf Coast, and the Red River and the Rio Grande is as much a part of you as anything ever will be.
As soon as anyone anywhere in the world looks at it, they know what it is is. It’s TEXAS. Pick any kid off the street in Japan and draw him a picture of Texas in the dirt, and he’ll know what it is.
What happens if I show you a picture of any other state? You’ll get it sooner or later, but who else in the world would? Even if you do, does it ever stir any feeling in you?
In every man, woman and child on this little rock the Good Lord put us on, there is somewhere in them a person who wishes just once he could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or ride in a pick up or dance at a dance hall.
Did you ever hear anyone in a bar say, “Wow! so you’re from Kansas. Cool. Tell me about it.”
There is some bit of Texas in everyone. Do you know why? Because Texas is Texas. Texas is the Alamo. Texas is 183 men standing in a church, facing thousands of Mexican nationals, fighting for freedom, who had a chance to walk out and save themselves, but stayed.
We send our kids to schools named Travis and Bowie, and do you know why? Because those men saw a line in the sand and decided to be heroes. John Wayne paid to do the movie himself. That is Texas.
Texas is Sam Houston capturing Santa Anna at San Jacinto. Texas is Juneteenth and Texas Independence Day. Texas is huge forests of Piney Woods like the Davy Crockett National Forest. Texas is breathtaking mountains in Big Bend.
Texas is shiny skyscrapers in Houston and Dallas. Texas is the uniqueness of Austin. Texas is world record bass from places like Lake Fork.
Texas is the best colleges around, from Houston to Lubbock and everywhere in between.
Texas is Mexican food like nowhere in the world, even Mexico.
Texas is larger-than-life legends like Willie Nelson and Buddy Holly, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan, Denton Cooley and Michael DeBakey, Lyndon Johnson and George Bush.
Texas is great companies like Texas Instruments, Dell Computer and Compaq.
Texas is huge herds of cattle and miles of crops. Texas is skies blackened with doves and fields full of deer.
Texas is the best Bar-B-Q anywhere. Period. Texas is the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Anywhere. Not to mention the prettiest girls.
Texas is a place where cities shut down for the Cowboys on Monday night football and the streets are deserted during church.
Texas is the best music, with the best musicians in the world.
Texas is beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, mountains and prairies.
If it isn’t in Texas, you don’t need it. No one does anything bigger or better.
By federal law, Texas is the only state in the U.S. that can fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. flag. Think about that for a second.
You fly the Stars and Stripes at 20 feet in Maryland, or California, or Maine and your state flag flies at 17 feet. You fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview at 20 feet and the Lone Star flies at 20 feet.
Do you know why? Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the capitol building in D.C.
We signed that and the flag height in as part of the deal when we came into the Union.
That’s the best part right there....when we came into the Union, Texas was its own country, The Republic of Texas.
So..aren’t you proud to be a Texan if you are one? You should be!!
RPR
See you back here at The Round Table soon.
Hope you have a good, great week. Avoid hectic and frustrating.
