“I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion. And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox. But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that Texas is one thing. For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study, and the passionate possession of all Texans.”
【七绝】秋色渐浓
独立西窗漠野空，霜林次第老秋风。
德州旧友如相问，遥寄秋枝一片红。
To My Friends in Texas
Standing in front of the west window, alone,
I stare at the vast emptiness of the desert.
Over there in the woods near the house,
maple leaves are gradually turning red,
as if hurried by the autumn wind to age and ferment,
so to acquire the color of wine.
If my old redneck friends in Texas
tell me that everything is bigger in Texas,
I'll tease them and ask,
“Why can't it house a single red leaf?”
I'll offer to send them some fall foliage
so they don't waste their big land
that I voluntarily left behind.
(© October 5, 2023, godog)
“I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion. And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox. But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that Texas is one thing. For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study, and the passionate possession of all Texans.”
--- John Steinbeck
much of the time, it's not worth the effort.