Sunday Morning Essays

 Is This Even Legal? Photo: This is one of the many flags that mysteriously appeared one morning lining our street. In the background you can see our new house and the prehistoric horse apple tree (see previous blog). The undulations on the lawn a clear sign that a mammoth was there. TAXES, AFTER ALL, ARE DUES THAT WE PAY FOR THE PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERSHIP IN AN ORGANIZED SOCIETY.” — FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT My travel companion and I scratched our heads this weekend when we walked out of our Texas home to go to brunch (brunch is a big thing here in Dallas). The streets in our neighborhood were lined with American Flags. When I was a homeowner in the California Bay Area I wouldn't dream of putting the American Flag in front of my home. It would be considered too divisive. I cringe at the thought of the community backlash over my flag after a quarterback for the Bay Area team the 49ers decided to kneel during the anthem. The 49ers weren't even doing that well...

 What the Heck ARE These Things? As I have mentioned before, I moved to Texas from California and purchased a modest house north of Dallas with my travel companion.  When people here in Texas ask me where I am from I smile back at them in my beanie, my multiple mala bead bracelets, and my bicep ink and I tell them very softly, "California." I don't want too many people to hear. Dallas is very weary of California immigrants. They like their Red State with its low taxes and even lower homelessness. Sure, Texas doesn't have the mountains or the Pacific Ocean but it also doesn't have a Coastal Commission or even a Highway Patrol for that mater and they like it that way. Many times on answering the question I'll get a dirty look and a finger in my chest warning me not to change their state. I rarely leave the house wearing a beanie without my Shepard Malinois mix (Chief).  The Russian mafia movers delivered my furniture and surprisingly left all my fingers still c...