Texas on my mind

 

Given that much of my career has been built around the literature and history of Texas, I suppose my dream last night was not a surprise. I notably have colorful dreams—yes, in technicolor, and I hear sounds and smell good things. And sometimes I remember them well into the next day. I used to say my best writing was done at three in the morning when I was asleep. Alas, that’s not true anymore, but last night’s dream has stayed with me.

I was getting ready to go to school, though I wasn’t certain if it was high school or college or what I was doing there. (I frequently have that college dream where I haven’t been to class all semester and now it’s finals and I’m in a panic, but this was different). I remember putting on makeup, including that horrible blue eye shadow we used to think was so smart. And then, somehow, I was teaching a class—in an outdoor classroom with a huge body of water in the background (the Gulf?). I had to go back inside to get my sunglasses.

The class was on Texas culture, and I decided to let the students teach the class. (That’s a favorite technic of mine: I once taught a writing seminar using the City of Fort Worth as a focus and even took the kids on a bus tour and supper at Star Café in the Stockyards—medium successful). This time I said each would be asked to do an in-depth study of some aspect of Texas culture—not just the usual broad categories of food, music, geography, but digging deeper. And then the class and I began to come up with topics: how do Texans raise their children? What are Texas religious values? How does geography shape our lives—divided into regions like coastal South Texas, the High Plains, etc. Now I can’t remember all the topics we came up with, but at the time they were brilliant.

I decided this dream is worth mentioning because it illustrated to me what a wonderful place Texas can be. And knowing my sympathies, when I woke it led me to the next thought: we must not, we cannot let hardline, alt-right conservatives constrict Texas with their tight laws on abortion trans kids, LGBTQ lifestyle, school curriculum and library books. Texas has a wonderful and rich heritage—okay some myth, mixed with a lot of truth. And today we are a rich and diverse culture, with contributions from many heritages that blend to make a remarkable whole. We cannot let that be erased and consigned to the dump heap because Greg Abbot, Dan Patrick, and Ken Paxton want to play to their base and further their political careers. Folks, our ancestors (okay, I’m not a native Texan and can’t claim them but many can) fought and died in the Texas Revolution for the life they wanted to live in Texas. I’m not at all suggesting we take up arms, but I am suggesting we have to fight—and fight hard—at the polls, in public meetings, in school board meetings, any place we can make our voices heard.

I was impressed with many articles about Madeline Albright, several of which repeated her statement that she was late in coming to make her voice heard, but once she found her voice, she would not be silenced. I so agree with her, and I think it’s up to each of us—particularly Texas women—to make our voices heard. Women are so involved in abortion, child-raising, education, and we can make such a difference.

That thought logically brought me to Ukraine, where women are fighting alongside their husbands and sons. I cannot say strongly enough how overwhelmed I am with the spirit, determination, and resilience of that people as a nation. The world has not seen anything like it since the resistance fighters of WWII. But you know what makes me love those people all the more? The ones who flee to safety, leaving loved ones behind to fight, take their dogs and cats with them. I find that a remarkable show of loyalty and courage. That they would look out for their pets is such an important statement of who they are.

Pray for Ukraine, for the people, for the animals, for their charismatic leader. Who knows when the world will again see such courage and determination? And pray for Texas, that we can be free to live our lives as we want and not according to dictates from our state government. Make it happen!