"Memories of East Texas And Gilmer, county seat of Upshur" Gilmer - also the birthplace of one Don Henley. Upshur County - birthplace of me.
I was not familiar with that song - thanks for posting the lyrics. My parents moved to Dallas while I was still a toddler, but my childhood summers and holidays were spent in those piney woods and small towns. Most of my family still lives there, and are buried there as well. The connection to the red clay apparently runs deep. I have many idyllic memories of shimmering hot summer days running barefoot with my cousins, the heavenly cool of the small movie theater in Gladewater, pop. 4000, drinking bottled Cokes with a bag of peanuts poured in. East Texas is also the place I remember seeing the signs "White" and "Colored", and asking my grandmother what it meant - I thought it referred to the color of the walls inside the bathroom. I can remember being a teenager in the mid 1960s and still seeing the sign at the laundromat near my grandma's that said "No Colored Maids allowed" - even though I can intuitively understand racist logic, I never did get that one. I now live in a small town about 60 miles southeast of Dallas, and moving there from the big city was like moving back in time at least 3 decades. However, the thing that surprised me the most is that we have a gay bar, and apparently a sizable gay community. I never thought such a thing possible in this redneck town, but there you have it. People here can be openly racist and homophobic to a shocking degree, but there's a strange contradicting attitude. My grandmother was a racist, but she was also an unfailingly polite Southern lady - maybe it's about keeping the dirty laundry hidden, I don't know. Colin mentioned moving to a small town and experiencing less harrassment. That reminded me very much of the place I live now. Sorry to ramble. Mack, I know where you're coming from. Sybil _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
