Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

Our washing machine broke last week. Its history is quite fascinating. So here I write a eulogy. The washing machine was in our possession for around 21 years. At the time of its 'death,' it bore its age with several rust spots, but otherwise functioned well until the end. But the thing that got this particular washing machine into family history occurred around 11 years ago. To protect the dignity of individuals, a royal 'we' has been adopted. The washing machine, as calculated by its age at 'death,' was in its zenith during this particularly memorable weekend of 2000. We were having a family over for dinner, and to entice them to come [side note: apparently bribes are necessary for dinner dates] they were told that we would be having a glazed ham [another side note: I actually don't like ham]. So the day of the dinner, we took the ham out of the freezer and, seeing that the sink was dirty, decided to thaw the ham in the washing machine. After all, it is...

So I had the chance to watch the Houston Symphony peform the score of The Fellowship of the Rings on Saturday. It was a movie-symphony combo: the movie was projected onto a theater-size screen, and the orchestra and chorus gave the musical performance below. Basically, what that meant for me is that seats that would normally be really expensive were actually quite cheap, because the front seats gave a poor view of the movie, but a good feel for the orchestra. I got to watch the percussionist play the chains (no, really! I didn't think chains were part of an orchestra, but I guess percussionists can get creative), and I could hear individual instruments like the harpsichord, the bells, and the oboe. One of the most fascinating parts, I think, was seeing how the director coordinated his orchestra with the timing of the film. I think he had some sort of display to prompt him when songs should start, but to keep that timing clean throughout the whole 3-ish hours! I confess that I...

don't armadillos look like giant pill bugs? That big shiny armadillo grabbed my attention when I was downtown, so I figured it would grab yours. We can now dispense with the preliminaries, and move on to the meat of this mini-Texas tour. Not all of Texas is desert. There are actually several different environments in Texas (although all of them include heat): desert and plateaus in the west, hills and scrubby trees in the center, and a flat green expanse of oaks/pines/cypress/etc. on the coast in the east (which is where I live). hey, there are horses! Texas is in a drought right now--the worse we've had in about 50 years--but the southeast is still pretty green. Mostly. The grass is dying. The trees might die. Hopefully not, though, because Texas has some nice trees. SHADE=the other reason trees aren't cut down It seems that a lot of the old trees in Texas were hanging trees at one point or another. Such a history, apparently, saves the tree from ...

This ain't no news flash, but it is hot in Texas. Usually temperatures don't go above 100 degrees, but factor in the humidity, which means reduced sweat evaporation and subsequent cooling, and it gets pretty miserable. The number of 'hot' days per year has doubled since 2010; I hope the trend doesn't stick. I just went on a walk around my neighborhood in my bare feet on the concrete, and really regret that; it's like walking on hot broken glass. I wonder if early Texans were nocturnal before a/c was invented; it's quite pleasant in the evenings (starting at like 8:00pm), but otherwise I just stay indoors or in water. When I go out of the state, people usually ask me how I can live there because it's so hot. Yeah, but you get used to it [which is mostly true.] And then you develop a huge Texas pride thing on it [which is completely true]. And at this point they will want to change the topic... Ice cream! Good way to get your dairy and beat the heat. A...