Thursday, July 1, 2010

Everything is ________ in Texas

Unlike Louisiana and Mississippi, there was no guesswork involved in determining whether we'd crossed into Texas. An enormous "Welcome to Texas" sign and dozens of Lone Star flags both flying and painted onto barns, curbs, and storefronts made it all quite clear. With just 3 ride days from the border to Dallas, our ambitious schedule had us zooming 90 miles across the surprisingly steep and verdant rolling hills of East Texas, through Carthage, Athens, and then Sunnyvale. Today we ticked off 90 miles from Dallas to Decatur, and, with the aid of blistering tailwind spun from a disintegrating hurricane, myself and another rider covered the last 40 miles in about 1 hour 45 min. I'd swear there was smoke coming off the road!

Though our impression has been that the folks in Louisiana were the kindest, Texans have served up some singularly impressive hospitality. Rick and Elaine in Carthage welcomed, for the fifth year, all 33 of us to sleep on their floor, swim in their pool, and stuff ourselves silly with a slow-smoked beef brisket. Pete and Sally in Sunnyvale for three straight days took it upon themselves to ensure that we never went more than a few hours without a lavish and generous meal, a debt I hope we at least partially repaid by framing and raising the exterior and interior walls for a new home built by the Garland County Habitat for Humanity affiliate.

Our second night at Pete and Sallys, we were treated to some Texas-sized burgers and ate with several folks who had earned Habitat homes. I spoke for sometime with Julia, who works for the Stetson hat company. She recalled applying for a home and, shortly before the list for that year would be cut, received a raise. Worried that it might compromise her eligibility but determined to act honestly, she reported the raise straightaway. As it turned out, it was the raise that made her eligible, without which she would have fallen below H4H's minimum income for managing her mortgage. 2 and a half years later, she and her two children moved in, and she spoke movingly about the impact that it has had on her son and daughter. For both children, she said, having the home has boosted their sense of security and stability, but she noticed the most profound impact for them emotionally was the boost it gave to their self-esteem. Julia explained that having a home didn't just provide a sense of worth, but a sense that there were opportunities for them that they could work to realize. Those insights were, for me, probably the most significant affirmation of our work's worth!

So the rolling hills have evened out to a characteristically flat landscape, but with the increasing July heat we can feel the moisture disappearing from the air as we chug west. Not far from the deserts and canyonlands of old west now...

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