Austin, TX
I never have been able to figure out why Texans feel the way they do about Texas. They seem to feel there’s something unique about this place that no place else in the Union has. Every state has a certain amount of pride. Massachusetts can take pride in being the cradle of Liberty. Virginia can take pride in being the birthplace of Presidents. California can take pride in being the place to which all the loose nuts roll. Pennsylvania can take pride in being the most corrupt state in the Union Birthplace of the United States.
Texas has got a lot of things to be proud about. The drive from Houston to Austin passed through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. Wide open spaces under a breathtakingly blue sky with miles of green grass prairies populated by disinterested cattle. Houston is a fun city, huge and energetic with tons of cash and wonderful places to spend it in. Austin seems an odder, smaller version of Houston, denser and with more emphasis on the artistic. But what I never internalized until I came to Texas is the reason folks believe Texas a place apart: it really was its own nation.
Every state in the Union was technically a sovereign and independent nation from July 4, 1776 until they adopted the Articles of Confederation and then the United States Constitution. But in all things they acted as a collective. They acted through Congress to raise an army, conduct war, negotiate with foreign powers and declare peace. Texas acted entirely on its own for nearly ten years. It fought a war of Independence, created an Army and Navy, concluded treaties, dispatched and received ambassadors, defended its borders, and governed itself as an independent nation in the family of nations for a long time before annexing itself to the United States. The fact that the Republic of Texas was a real and established nation for a relatively long time makes it unique among the United States and entitles its people to bear their state in high regard.
So far I like Texas. I like the pride. I like the country. I like most of the people (the hipsters and yuppies of Austin and Houston respectively make me want to puke). I can’t say I’ll ever call any place home again in a soulful attachment sort of way but I could see myself learning some Texas pride.