My Place of Dreams....

Okay, after my ride on the infamously dysfunctional Amtrak train, I have come back... back to my mother's home, back to East Texas where the best of two worlds collide.....where the American South blends into the wild, untamed country of Eastern Texas.

It is the land of horses, cattle, and chicken farms. It is a place of indescribable beauty---that of thousands of ares of verdant cattle land, the long, neat bungalows of chicken farms, beautiful white-steepled churches, and spectacular red sunsets. It's people are polite, genteel---landed gentry who practice daily the habit of adhering to being raised in the most strictest of "good manners", using polite, cultivated Texan accents to speak their truths while never failing to call their elders "Ma'am" or "Sir". Nowhere in the American South or East Texas are the people more polite to each other.

It is also the land of chivalry. A damsel in distress is never in trouble for very long until a tall, lanky man comes to her aid. It is a world where a "lady" is always treated as such and the handsome, sun-bronzed mens' charms are always irresistable--- especially since they always remember to take their hats off in the presence of a lady--- or even while stealing a kiss with a disarming grin. It is also a place of uncommon honor. After my father died, his best friend picked up the flag of my Daddy's duty and never failed to follow my pursuits in order to offer his services if I were ever in need.

My father was a Texan gentleman. And he was a giant of a man, 6'4" and ruled by the code of honor instilled in all Texan gentlemen of his era. And my mother is a beautiful Southern Belle, raised in the mysterious, fascinating bayou of northern Louisiana.

My parents taught me the code of the South well, and also made sure they instilled in me the pride of being "half Texan". And whenever I am away from their land very long, a deep longing to return builds in my heart. I never feel truly at home anywhere but with my family in Texas or Louisiana.

For I was raised by the most beautiful and exciting of both cultures, the rough, cowboy badlands of Texas and the lace-curtain parlors of southern Louisiana. It is is a land which holds my deepest roots--- said roots which are always calling me in my subconscious..... calling for me to return.

Mumsy......I am back....

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