Wondering about wild grapes

Sunday, March 13, 2016

When We Moved to Texas.

It has been many years since I moved here to Texas.  Well, I didn't move "here", I first moved to an apartment in Baytown.  It didn't take me long at all to know I wanted to get back out in the country, so I started looking and found some vacant property.  Moved out on it and stayed in my pop-up tent camper.  It didn't take long for my wife to want to move, especially after she got snake bit.  To make a long story short, we got our first double-wide and put it on that property.  So, as you can see, we were not really very rich or we would have bought a nice house in the Woodlands or some other fancy place.

When I traveled for business or pleasure, people would always ask where I was from.  When I said Texas, they would then ask how many oil wells did I have and how big was my herd of longhorn cattle.  Back then, people who have never been to Texas, thought all Texans' were rich.

Of course, things were different back then.  There were two classes of people, the rich and the not rich.  Around the time I first came here, there was no middle class and therefore very few middle class homes to buy.  That eventually changed with the influx of more non-Texans moving to Texas.  But back then, the easiest thing I could do was to buy a parcel of land and put a double-wide factory built home (trailer) on it.  That first double-wide moved to the Dallas area with me.  It also came back to the Houston area with me, and after I upgraded to a 32x80, it turned into a storage area.  So, as you can see, I don't have a dozen or so oil wells and neither do I have any cattle, but I do wear cowboy boots, blue jeans, western shirts, and a cowboy hats.  So, yes, I have a wonderful wife and family, so I am truly a rich Texan.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

12 comments:

  1. I wasn't born in Texas but that was not my fault. Texan is an attitude and I have plenty of TEXAN ATTITUDE.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Texas is an attitude. Even before I moved here I had that Texas attitude and wore boots and western clothes. In fact, a vice president of Pullman asked me one time if I owned horses. I guess he thought anyone who dressed like that must have horses. I didn't.

      Delete
  2. I lived in Texas most of my life and then hopped over the Red River from Wise County, Texas to retire in Indian territory. Our house is next to "native" land (used to be native land). It is a whole other world here. I can see Texas from my place. What a difference crossing over the river makes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I live in the Piney woods, so I can't see very far. The closest other state to me is Louisiana.

      Delete
    2. I sure wouldn't want to live in Louisiana right now with all the flooding. I lived in Bossier Parish many years ago and it is covered with water. Hope you are high and dry. I like the Piney Woods. Took the little Texas State Excursion train ride years ago from Rusk through the woods. It was so beautiful!

      Delete
    3. All water runs away from my house in all directions. I have a 5 acre pond/swamp that collects most of it and if it gets full, it runs out the other side away from the house. Yes, I am high and dry.

      Delete
  3. Any person who is happy with their lives and content with what they own (or don't own) is truly rich. I have less money than I've ever had, but I am totally happy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe that contentment comes from living a long life and doing most of what you wanted to do?

      Delete
  4. I think the show "Dallas" had a lot to do with persons outside of Texas viewing us as people with lots of money, oil wells, herds of cattle and vast ranches.

    I remember visiting Argentina and people thinking we lived like J.R. Ewing :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I lived north of Fort Worth, we actually went and took a look at the home that was used in that TV series. It was a nice home but it wasn't on a ranch. The magic of TV transformed it (grin).

      Delete
  5. Sounds like a wonderful way to move to Texas, we keep travelling through every so often and stop for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds like a wonderful adventure and you are a rich person as you have the love of your family.

    ReplyDelete