Horses in the City

I know, I know, it's been almost a month, but I have a good excuse - I moved. I have lived nearly my entire life in the Southeast. I am a southern girl through and through. I love grits and fried okra (fried anything!), I know what chicken fried steak is and I order it at Cracker Barrel sometimes. Banana Pudding is my dessert of choice, and I like my BBQ drenched with vinegar and a heap of coleslaw and hushpuppies on the side. I like my rolling, tree-covered hills and wildflower-strewn interstates. And yet, I have been in Texas one week and somehow I feel at home.

Texas is still considered the south, yes. But that is about the only thing it shares with my beloved Tarheel state. We had BBQ for dinner the other night and it came out dry - just plain pulled pork with a cup of sauce on the side. I missed the vinegar - until I took my first bite. It was divine! I asked if they had banana pudding for dessert - no. Apparently Texans don't eat banana pudding. They did have mashed sweet potatoes covered with brown sugar. That was tasty. The interstates here are straight as an arrow. No curves or bridges to follow the lay of the land, because the land is flat. And straight. And flat. No trees to hide the garish neon signs of businesses. Nope, the only thing hiding the businesses here are the garish neon signs. It's not too bad during the day when the neon is turned off, but at night it is like traveling through an alien land. You almost don't need headlights the neon is so bright.

One thing I absolutely LOVE - each day since we have been here (except yesterday) there has been a thunderstorm every single afternoon. One minute it is hot and sunny, the next minute you realize the room has fallen dark. You look outside and the sky is black. You see a flash of lightning, then another. You hear a soft roll of thunder...Then BOOM! The sky drops out, the lightning cuts the sky like a knife, and the thunder booms so deeply you can feel it in your bones. This goes on for about an hour, then it stops as abruptly as it started and the sun brings the heat back.

Last night we went to Target. On our way home, passing under traffic light after traffic light, John yelled out "Horses!". I whipped my head to the right, and there, right on the corner of a busy intersection, was small group of about 6 horses. They were crowded together, pressing into the corner of their fence, as if jockeying for position. Do they do this every evening at rush hour? Jostling each other, competing to see who can find the funniest specimen? "Hey look - that one is putting on makeup while driving with her knees!" "No, no, look at that guy, picking his nose at red light!" "No, that one is the best! The one in big gas-guzzling SUV, toting her one child to soccer!". I wonder who won.

Horses in the city. I think I'm going to like it here :)