Texas -ha! You got nuttin [sic] on me!

Let me explain something about Texas. Texas always scared me.

Okay, not *really* but let me explain.

I’ve always been a map freak. I LOVE maps. I have them all over my office – every office I’ve ever had. US map, world map, Georgia map, Wisconsin map…whatever (right now, my area has the US and Georgia). When I was little and we’d roadtrip as a family to Pennsylvania from Wisconsin, Mom would entertain me by pulling out the Atlas and asking me things in it.

For example, she’d say: “Kentucky. Name all the states around it.” Or, “what river touches both Minnesota and Arkansas?” So, yes, I became a map freak. And I can also fill in all the states on a blank US map.

(Which, incidentally, helped in the scene in my last entry about Trivial Pursuit. A question was: “What’s the only state named after a Greek Island?” Do you know? Do you? Yes, I managed to pull that one out and get it correct as well!)

In any case, when I was very little, I loved to look at this Atlas of the United States that my parents had. But I was always very afraid to turn to the page of Texas. Mainly because the page of Texas was actually the only page that was actually TWO pages since Texas was so big. (A little aside here: I now feel bad for Alaska; always short-shirted being put in a split page with Hawaii, don’t you think?) So, as I would explore each state, learning cities and rivers and bordering states and whatnot, I would be very very conscious of NOT flipping to Texas because, frankly, it *freaked me out.*

Somehow (to this day, I don’t know how: did I actually tell him?!), my older brother figured out this fear. And, to this day, I have a vague memory of him chasing me around the house, specifically around the dining room table, with the book open to the map of Texas.

Okay…I’ll give y’all a moment to mock me. Go ahead….

Mmm hmm… go ahead. Really….

In any case, whether it’s for real or just a memory of mine from a young 8-year-old mind, it’s stuck with me. And I’ve always joked about a fear of Texas since. Not because I was ever REALLY afraid of Texas, mind you (that’s my story-sticking to it!), but because it’s such a sweet innocent memory.

Well, last week, I had to go there on business. I joked about having to take Valium, but honestly? It just made the trip more fun for me. And I left my mark in a bar there (where I was allowed to, mind you! The waitress actually said, “no problem…write what you want. But if it’s dirty, write it under the table where most people won’t see it.”) just to come full circle.

Ah. Life. Ain’t it grand? J