TODAY I AM A TEXAN

The rites of passage... you know only after you've achieved a new status. Till then it's a mirage on the horizon of passing time.

Today I bought a Texas Toothpick. It's a 6 to 7 foot long heavy iron shaft with spike on one end and a chisel on the other. As I told Terri, "we'll live here forever after. We will want to plant things." And she added: "...and the dirt is forever too." We have caliche soil which is a mix of rocks and dirt. You can't even get a shovel into it when the soil is dry. When it's wet you can't get the shovel in more than an inch for the rocks just below the surface. But swing that chisel (which must weigh 25 or 30 pounds) and you can spike an inch or two of dirt then chisel though the rock.

I imagine these would be popular in prisons.

And speaking of chain gangs, I also bought a pickaxe. You need that to start your hole. THEN you spike and chisel.

Today I am a Texan. My skin will turn to leather. I will have a bullet to chew on when hungry. I will squint into the sun and learn to spit to hit scorpions.

I always did say "Howdy."