TEXAS

I now live in Whitney, Texas, a town of about two thousand people, give or take. It's a real change from Lorain, or certainly Cleveland.

The paper comes out once a week...it's called The Lakelander(or, as I refer to it in my mind, The Lackluster), there's not really that much to do around here, and no jobs; I've been looking since I got here, Valentine's Day of '09.

It's quiet, as you'd expect, and hot...we hit 105 today. There's fire ants, a beastie I've run into once, and would rather not again. The flies bite, and there are scorpions, although I've yet to see one. For some reason, radio, digital tv, and cellphone reception are really wonky around these parts...personally, I consider digital tv a Communist plot anyway, but that's me.

I love this town, and this state, what I've seen of it so far, for very simple reasons....

People hang the flag, everyday.

Kids say, "sir", "ma'am", and do it without THAT TONE in their voices.

Folks speak to you, and ask after your people.

Honor, honesty, decency, and respect are an everyday thing here.

It ain't heaven....it ain't even Mayberry, but it's home, and I feel at home here, heat, bugs, and all.

The one thing I've yet to figure out is, why so many big people in such a big state go for such little dogs?