I am feeling a surprising and deep appreciation for being back in Texas. The oaks and grackles and horsey drivers rise up to greet me.
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All the weird and funky nooks and crannies are out for everyone to see and seem to be appreciated by everyone. I feel that maybe Angelenos miss out on large swaths of their city; there, we are separated by freeways, but here they corral us together in loops and pens.
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Though the air shimmers above the blacktop, the heat just gives folks one more thing to talk about; it dampens foreheads and backs of knees, but not spirits. Everyone is just in search of a good time, a cold beer, or a margarita and happy to let you have yours.
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When I talk I can hear that my accent has come back. It feels like talking with big blown roses falling out of my mouth. It feels good and lazy.
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I notice that women are different here than in California. LA women are facially subtle, keeping their features still and cool. Women here talk with their whole faces. I wonder if I do this?
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Men here are different too. They automatically hold the door to let me go first, never stopping to consider if I might be a radical feminazi and therefore offended by their politess. They are chatty like the women, and lean on things with one arm, and probably think I am a bad driver in an oh-shucks kind of way. But I'm actually a very good driver, since I can drive a standard and have only totaled one car ever.
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