Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: STARS (07/28/22)
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TITLE: Deep in the Heart | Previous Challenge Entry
By Corinne Smelker
08/04/22 -
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And I can 99 percent guarantee they’ll respond, “Deep in the heart of Texas.”
As a non-Texan, heck, as a non-American, I didn’t get it.
I remember boarding a plane in Heathrow and almost sighing as I realized my row companion was a well-built cowboy-booted man, wearing the traditional ten-gallon hat.
“Howdy,” he greeted me once I settled down.
“Hi,” I replied.
“Where ya’ll headed?” Silently I translated what he said into British English, his accent was so strong.
“Um, well I’m flying into Canada, but headed to Detroit. How about you?”
He stretched his legs out, pointed at his boots, and tipped his hat, “Guess.”
Could this guy be any more stereotypical? I had not grown up with a TV in the home, but even I could see this man was the archetypal Texan. I bet he doesn’t even ride horses!
“Texas?” I ventured.
The floodgates opened and for the next 30 minutes I was regaled with tales of the wonders of Texas, its big cities, its even larger plains and rolling hills, its amazing coastline, the people, the food, oh the food – the barbeque, the tacos, the barbacoa, the music…
I nodded my head in all the right places. I had never met someone so proud of where he lived. I was fond of my English city and all, and my Midlands county was pretty cool, but I’d never regale someone for 30 minutes!
Hours later I startled awake as I realized I had fallen asleep on this man's shoulder. "It's all right Missy, you were right tired," he said as I apologized. His kindness has always stayed with me. He was everything I expected a true Texan to be.
Twelve years after that trans-Atlantic flight I found myself in the Lone Star State, not for a visit, but to live. Of all the states I could have chosen, I was drawn to Texas. As I drove through Dallas and headed south, I was reminded of that chance encounter on a plane over a decade earlier. Did that influence my decision?
The Lone Star State is all that stranger promised, and more. The cities, the plains and rolling hills, the coastline, the people, and oh the food – the barbeque, the tacos, the barbacoa, the music…
The stars may indeed shine big and bright deep in the heart of Texas; but the Lone Star State has inveigled itself deep in my heart, in a way I never thought possible.
Now, if you don’t mind, I’m headed off my local H.E.B., where, if I am in the produce aisle and I sing, “The stars at night are big and bright …”
I can 99 percent guarantee that all the people in that section will respond, “Deep in the heart of Texas.”
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Excellent job!
Blessings~