A little Lone Star nostalgia with a musical interlude

Though I have adopted Nevada as my home, you can take the boy out of Texas, but you can’t take Texas out of the boy.

Album cover

That’s especially so since by sisters keep sending me Texas stuff. I can make you a waffle in the shape of Texas with my waffle iron. Bet they don’t have those for Colorado or Wyoming.

I have a Don’t Mess With Texas yard sign and a Misplaced Texan bumper sticker. I have pillow cases and throw rugs with Lone Stars. There are tin stars on the wall. You should see my armadillo collection.

My wife got in the act, too, and bought me a shirt for Christmas with the label Panhandle Slim with cowboys across the front, but we had to take it back, because Texas and I both tend to spread out a bit south of the panhandle.

Though I don’t listen to country music much, tending to favor classic jazz and celtic and folk and zydeco, I do have a Brian Burns station on Pandora on my iPad, which is where I recently heard this amusing piece by the singer who sings mostly about Texas. This song takes you from Bossier City to El Paso and ends in Abilene with his car up in a tree with no recollection of how or why. I sometimes feel that way without the medicinal dosage:

Then there is this tune that takes you all over some familiar territory, including many of my old stomping grounds:

Then there is this Mexican bugle call by Burns. It was played by Santa Anna at the Alamo. Degüello literally means “slit throat” and signals that there will be no quarter and the garrison will be put to the sword to the man. This cheery little piece is my cell phone ringtone to remind me of unceremonious mass career executions at my former newspaper. No quarter, no mercy, no way out:

Thought I’d end on this lighter note.