This guy can't BUY a break!

It was at the State Fair of Texas about a year ago that Big Tex, the giant cowboy statue that welcomed visitors at the front gate, caught fire and turned crispy critter.  It seems the motor that moved his jaw when he "talked" shorted out.  (They never offered an explanation of why his crotch ignited, although rumors were ripe.)

It was big news at the time, and many people around here were truly saddened.  (I personally thought the whole concept was pretty cheesy.)  Money was raised for a new Big Tex, and he was ready for this year's fair.   

Several days ago at lunch I had the TV on and was (sorta) watching the local news when I happened to glance over to see this:

My first thought was, "Holy crap....he fell over!  THE SUM BITCH FELL OVER!"  *we just can't have nice thangs!*

Turns out the Fair ended its 3-week run last weekend and workers were taking him down and back to storage.  *Whew*  I'm not sure people around here could handle the trauma of losing another Big Tex so soon.

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I don't get all this fascination with cowboys.  I really don't.  While there are still some working cowboys in Texas (mostly in west and south Texas), they're rare, and you're more likely to see them working out of 4-wheel drive trucks or even helicopters than on horseback.  They dress the way they do for a reason.

What you will see here are what we jokingly refer to as "urban cowboys".  These are city people who wear boots (dirty, never polished), Wrangler jeans, shirts with snaps instead of buttons, belt buckles the size of hub caps, and of course cowboy hats.  But the funny part is, they wouldn't know what to do with a cow or a horse if their life depended on it.  

I understand honoring your past, and we in Texas have an exceptionally colorful one.  But to re-live it every day?  I mean, do you see ordinary people in Boston walking around wearing 3-point hats, coats with long tails, and shirts with ruffles?  Or people in San Francisco walking around wearing....OK....bad example.

Oh well, to each his own.  As long as there's not a run on LL Bean "looks good fresh out of the dryer" T-shirts, I'm happy.  :)

S

Too many shoes!

I don't care what the calendar says, I'm declaring this the perfect Autumn day morning.  Overnight it dipped into the upper 50's, and just now I checked and it was only up to 75.  It will be borderline summer again by 5 PM (88 degrees forecast), but, hey, it beats 104!

Oh, the shoes....I was so overwhelmed by the great weather I strapped on my running (OK, who are we kidding....walking) shoes and checked out the neighborhood.  Everybody must either be at church or sleeping in because there wasn't a sound except for the birdies out there this morning.  That's unusual considering we live in a fairly dense urban setting.

As I was settling in to my walking I got to thinking how comfortable these shoes are.  Then I began mentally comparing them to the other shoes in my closet and I realized, dang.....I have a LOT of shoes! Way more than a man is supposed to.  I've seen pictures of celebreties' shoe collections, but those are always women's shoes.  How many pairs of shoes do most men have?

My guess would be a couple of pairs of dress shoes (black and brown), maybe a couple of pairs of sneakers, a pair or two of casual weekend shoes (like Sperry's), and maybe some old worn out ones to mow the yard in.

Not me.  (I'm thinking I might need to go to one of those meetings where you confess what a dork you are for collecting shoes.)  I have dress shoes (to go with my wedding / funeral suit), two pair of sneakers, too many casual weekend shoes to count (my current faves are my Patagonia slip-ons), and two pair of low-top outdoor shoes and a new pair of high-top hiking boots (which I've only worn once because it's too darn HOT here!).  I wear some old Crocs to take the dog for a walk around the block, and even some nicer Crocs that look like Sperry Top Siders, but have that comfy, cushy sole.

I had some really nice ostritch cowboy boots at one time, but couldn't wear them because they were 1. hot, 2.  heavy, and 3. uncomfortable.  I'm convinced guys that wear cowboy boots are just going for the look, because the new wears off fast, like as soon as you leave the store.  I sold 'em in a garage sale for a few bucks, and felt guilty for taking the guys money.  Poor sap.  They're probably like that one fruit cake that keeps getting passed on from one person to another, over and over. Wonder how many garage sales those boots have been through after mine?

OK....enough writing.  Time to go for some coffee and the Sunday newspaper.  Have fun, y'all.  ;)

S