TEXAS

"Texas Monthly

WHAT TEXAS MEANS TO ME

by Stephen Harrington

July 1982 When my plane landed in Amarillo the man in the seat next to me nodded toward the window and said, "Pretty, isn't it?"

I'm afraid I gave him a rather blank look, because all I saw through that same window was a vast field of concrete and, far in the distance, the hazy Amarillo skyline, which at first I took to be a cluster of grain elevators . . .

Texas is a zone in which the stunning vistas more or less peter out, leaving us with only one great geographical distinction: size. The prudent and prideful Texan takes in the whole package while retaining an affection for the few component parts with the necessary spit and polish to be thought of as scenery. He develops an eye for breadth, along with an ability to look close and hard at the unlovely places and graciously accept them for what they are."