Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Texas – the big and short of it all

Compiled by Sipra Pati


Howdy y’all! I have lived in Texas for a while now. Just like very other state and place, Texas has its own little quirks and secrets. I thought of sharing some interesting facts about this state which my family and I have called home for some time now. 

Nature and the State –

  1. State flower  – when spring comes around, the rolling blue countryside is proof enough – it’s the blue bonnet.
  2. State small animal – the quaint armored animal that gets killed so often by automobiles on Texan roads – the armadillo.
  3. And, because everything’s gotta be big – hey this IS Texas, after all – the state big animal is the Texas Longhorn.
  4. State insect – the Monarch butterfly – this beautiful offspring of nature does make one re-think ‘bugs’!
  5. Every time I drive down Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, I am reminded it was named after the state bird - the mockingbird.
  6. State shell – the lightning whelk, native to the Texan gulf coast.
  7. Going into the water after collecting shells – it is the Guadalupe bass which is the state fish.
  8. Come thanksgiving, the nut from this tree, the state tree, satisfies the palate and stomach of many a holiday diner – the pecan tree.
  9. The only natural lake in the state is Caddo Lake. Given that Caddo Lake is technically a wetland area, the name, I guess, is a misnomer and the claim too. Nevertheless its unusual ecosystem makes it a stunningly beautiful place.

On the dinner table –

  1. State pepper – the array of peppers in the supermarkets makes me wonder if this is the real reason Indians have an affinity for Texas – the jalapeno!
  2. State dish – Red kidney beans, ground beef, onions, hot peppers  make a good bowl of Chili, without a doubt.
  3. 40% of the catfish raised in US farms are battered, marinated, fried, baked, or grilled here in Texas. Does that make catfish a close second to chili? Food for thought, huh?
  4. We talked about chili being the state dish; one of its ingredients is the state vegetable – the sweet onion.
  5. The hamburger, the all-American fast food favorite, was invented right here in Texas in the town of Athens.

Space and Technology –

  1. This is a Texas fact because, only because of its content: What do you think was the first word spoken on the Moon? “Houston”! You guessed right – the first humans on the moon were contacting Mission Control in Houston.
  2. Talking of space, the airport in Amarillo, Texas is the other landing site for space shuttles because it has the country’s third largest runway.
  3. It’s a chip on our shoulders… no wait it’s in the computer! The microchip, without which our lives would be unimaginable, was invented here in Texas, Dallas, to be precise, way back in 1958.

It’s legal… wait it’s illegal… what no! IT is the law!

  1. In Texarkhana, you are required to put a tail light on your horse if you are riding it at night.
  2. Early census counts in Texas counted people along with the number of cattle.
  3. While branding a cow with its owner’s name has been a practice, it is against the law to put graffiti on someone else’s cow in Texas.
  4. While on cows, if you milk a cow that you don’t own, you are breaking the law in Texas.
  5. Apparently if somebody introduces a person as a husband or wife in public three times, that person becomes the legal spouse.

Getting physical –

  1. High school football may be the most popular sport in Texas, but rodeo is the official sport of the state.
  2. The Texas official dance is geometrical - the square dance!

Last, but not the least –

  1. The first train robbery in Texas took place almost at my doorstep. Almost. This act of pillage and theft took place in Allen in 1878 at the intersection of Main Street and Ash Road.

There are more interesting snippets about Texas on these websites (where I found all the above information), if you are interested:

 

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