texas time
it’s nice to be on texas time, where everything moves at a pace more hospitable, more humane than i’m used to. i just spent 3 days in Austin which turns out to be one of the coolest southern cities i’ve ever been to (i’m so sorry my dear hometown of Raleigh, NC, i still love you but you’re not exactly hip- neither am i and i’m happy to admit it if that makes you feel better). in the houston airport on the way into austin i found myself on a moving walkway and delighted in adding that extra 2 miles an hour to my already 4 miles an hour NYC street pace. when i came upon a beaming couple-on-vacation in front of me who had dropped their bags and were blocking the entire moving walkway, my NYC attitude reared its ugly head and the internal griping began. i mean, who were they to hold up the whole line of people with better things to do than stand behind them while they basked in the moment of being together on their way no doubt to some romantic sunny place where they could have many more moments of being together? (moment of pause to cool down) in retrospect i feel like such an ass. i didn’t even have anywhere to be, i wasn’t late for my flight. i just lost a few precious minutes of frenzied laptop catch-up time in between flights. is this what i’ve become? ugh! thank god texas took me by the stress-ridden shoulders and shook ‘em up a little and then massaged ‘em to a lone-star loveliness.
this was my first time in texas and i have to say i had an unfair impression of our commander in chief’s home state. you can’t blame me can you? i think i expected golden brown grasses and dusty highways amidst burnt out oil fields and locals pumped up on the kind of simple-minded, misguided red white and blue bravado they teach in first grade along with the pledge of allegiance. boy do i owe texans an apology. and this coming from a girl whose fellow north carolinians have our own problems with disproving all the Jesse Helms/tobacco growing hillbilly stereotypes to those who have never been to our wonderful state. i was so happily surprised by how green Austin is…maybe it’s just an oasis both ecologically and culturally in an other wise desert state. anyways, it turns out there was enough vegetation in Austin to bring on some of the worst spring allergies i’ve ever had. despite sneezing my guts out over the past three days, i’m looking forward to my next trip to TX.
fittingly, some of my most memorable moments in texas were somehow connected to petroleum so maybe it’s not so bad for us afterall. who cares about the environment if you can make some scrapbook memories along the way…i am so kidding, you gotta believe me Laura! (my twin sis Laura is an ecologist and i try my best to be environmentally conscious in part because i believe deeply in it and in part so i don’t cancel out all my better half’s work to protect our rivers- that’s one of the reasons i’ve committed to using eco-packaging on all my records) for your entertainment…
*fave gas station moment in TX
my friend Lalo i was travelling with and i stop at a gas station for a pee break and some more bottled water and Lalo optimistically decides she wants a healthy snack. (she’s so good, i went straight for the Mrs. Fields semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies!) upon finding nothing promising she heads for the counter to inquire about her options. the clerk is an older gentleman and maybe i was just projecting but it occurs to me that he favors our president a bit in the face and build. i was soon to find out he favors W in more than just looks. Lalo asks him if they have any apples and to our delight he replies in all seriousness “well, we don’t have any apples but we have some fruit flavored gum.” what?!!! this was one of my first impressions of texas and it didn’t do much to buck my preconceptions but boy did it give us a good laugh. we didn’t even wait till we got to the car, we just guffawed on the spot. a good “guffaw” was just what we needed to wipe clean a slate that had been marred by a journey which had gone from long and annoying to ridiculous via delayed flights and a crappy airport motel.
*fave gas station purchase in TX
we didn’t get any fruit flavored gum but i couldn’t resist buying a bag of “Texas Sized Jelly Beans” which are as big as from the tip of the thumb to the first knuckle. the bag of about 20 beans set me back 4.95 so somewhere someone is laughing at me and all the rest of us dumb tourists!
*fave gas station in TX
it’s called, and i kid you not, “Major Brand Gas Station”. no cheap knock offs here, just designer petroleum products!
*fave gas station character in TX
ok, so the clerk who looked like W takes the cake but a close second would be this guy i saw standing on the corner of S Congress and Riverside outside a gas station with a reversible cardboard sign reading on side one “need a beer” and side two “need a taco.” i actually saw this guy out there all three days i was in Austin so it must be a pretty successful venture for him. 
at this moment i’m midair on my way out of texas and already looking forward to coming back for a few shows at the end of april. i’ve decided texas should have its own time zone. hey, it’s a big state! and time just seems to flow more slowly and gracefully there. i could get used to that one day,..
kyler
ps if you’re looking for some new inspiration there are two records i’ve been obsessed with of late that happen to be by indie singer-songwriter friends of mine (it’s always cool when your friends are kicking butt). do yourself a favor and check out Blu Sanders “My Gemini Self” and Kris Delmhorst “Songs For A Hurricane.”