Texas 4th of July

Time seems to increasingly pass faster. It's already the 4th of July. Again.

My first 4th of July in Texas was not what I expected. I figured, in Texas, firecrackers and other explosives would be out of control. Instead, it's tightly controlled. I likely will not hear a single firecracker today.

Where I lived in Washington, in the sedate town of Mount Vernon, it was like a war zone, with neighbors launching simulataneous attacks trying to outdo each other. It was fun to watch. But not so fun when an errant rocket would land on my roof, still burning.

It's odd that the proud state of Texas, with its Cowboy, All American, supposedly Free-Spirited, Independence-Minded self image is, in actuality, one of the more repressive states in the union, where the pursuit of happiness is more tightly regulated than in the more progressive, liberated states. Like Washington.

In Washington there are dozens of casinos. For those for whom the pursuit of happiness means throwing money away on silly games. In Texas, casinos are banned.

In Washington there are no dry zones. In Texas, remnants of Prohibition remain. In some areas of Texas you can not find alcoholic beverages. In Washington you are free to pursue happiness via a bottle wherever you live.

In Washington you are free to pursue happiness without fearing that the government will abuse eminent domain laws and boot you out of your home. In Texas your house can be stolen via eminent domain abuse to build a sports stadium, a mall parking lot or a corporate headquarters. It seems totally Un-American to abuse an American's pursuit of happiness in this way.

In Washington, the people are allowed to vote on projects that may affect their pursuit of happiness. For instance, the citizens of Seattle voted 5 times on a billion dollar monorail project, with the final vote killing the project. The citizens of Fort Worth, Texas have not been allowed to vote on a bizarre project called the Trinity River Vision, that will result in the destruction of the convergence of two forks of the Trinity River in order to build a little lake and some canals. And force dozens of businesses to relocate, thus robbing them of their personal pursuit of happiness, in yet more eminent domain abuse in Texas.

I don't know how this can be done without a public vote. It seems, well, un-American to me.

Have a happy 4th of July. I may be going to the Arlington 4th of July Parade this morning. It's one of the biggest in the nation. I've only watched it once. It was a very good parade.

It's only 16 days til I can buy booze wherever I want it, throw away money in a casino and blow up firecrackers to my heart's content. And smell pine-scented air and see big mountains and pick blackberries growing wild and free. Blackberries are regulated in Texas and are not free.