TXMas 2010

"It you're real good, mind your momma, eat your vegetables and go to church on Sunday, when you die you will go to TEXAS".

That was printed on an old vintage t-shirt in a small little shop in S. Congress that I stumbled into with my friends on a recent visit down south. I gotta agree. Between the "ghetto quiles" with hash browns instead of tortillas-and the amazing tacos from Taco Deli, from the brisket bbq to the 82deg. 2am beer drinking on the back porch, Texas was pretty heavenly.

With only 3 and a half days to eat, drink, and take in the heat, I soaked in cicadas and dove chirping and cooing to the tune of 362 lost nights spent in Seattle: bundled inside drinking hot tea trying to make the most of a 5odeg. rainy evening. The spices, citrus, salsas and scents permeate more than the food, engaging you in a way you forgot possible when it takes 5***** star curry to wake you from your coffee/gray day comma.

The heat! You sweat and your muscles finally relax, beer and sweet tea is MANDATORY since you have to stay hydrated after all. I found myself going into shock as the tension literally melted away walking from the pools at McKinney Falls to the car-my shoulders, jaw, back finally let go of all the cold, work and pressure that crushes down on you when you live, as any Seattlite does, on the inside of a ping pong ball.

All this said, when I stop craving TexMex, brisket, and potato salad, I will feel really fortunate that good Thai food and great Sushi is around the corner. That a fantastic cup of coffee can be carried into one of a dozen used bookstores brimming with finds-fiction and non. That I don't need air conditioning in the music venue hosting the Fruit Bats that the night before carried Peaches on their stage and at one time or another has been graced by so many of the amazing musicians that come straight out of Seattle's heart. That Seattle has one, maybe not as big as Austin, but then again, everything is bigger in Texas-but we can visit and that about makes the 362 days just about bearable for this Seattlelite.