Now that we are settled in to our new home, and school/life has settled into a good routine, I finally have time to get back to writing my blogs. They kind of depress me, since I have no members, yet. But, I can't blame anyone for not reading them since I've only written 4 posts in two years. Here's to a better future!
Our new home is very interesting from a geographical standpoint. Texarkana sits on the state line between Arkansas and Texas, and this location creates some interesting features in the city. First, we have two mayors, city councils, sets of city services, school districts, etc. So the laws in each part of the city are quite different. Take alcohol. Bowie County (on the Texas side) is dry. So is Miller County (in Arkansas) EXCEPT for within the city limits of Texarkana, Arkansas. The result is that anyone living in Texarkana, TX has to drive to another state to buy alcohol. Second, there are the taxes. Arkansas' sales tax is lower, so it is cheaper to shop in Arkansas - except for food. Since Arkansas taxes food, many people buy their groceries in Texas.
And then, there's the TV. Texarkana - even with both sides combined, doesn't seem to be big enough to support its own TV stations. All of our TV comes out of Shreveport. So, all of us Texans and Arkansians (IDK - I can't remember what they call themselves, I'll have to look it up later) have to watch Louisiana TV. Actually, so do a few people in Oklahoma - it is only an hour away.
Finally, there is the sudden mind shift of living at the edge of the state. For my entire life, I could drive for hours in any direction, and still be in Texas. Now, I can be in another state in 10 minutes. Two more within an hour, and a half day's drive brings me to about 6 more - less time than it would take to get back to Austin. Ironically, this has resulted in everything here being more Texas-oriented than in the other places I've lived. Almost as if they are afraid that if they don't constantly remind themselves they are in Texas, they'll forget. That being said, if they want to Texan up this place, they need to add a few more Mexican restaurants and some barbecue places with more beef than pork.
Still, life here on the edge seems to free people here from being locked within state boundaries too much. I knew people back home who would leave Tarrant County to do anything - even if the county line was only a few miles away. And in Austin, no one ever crossed the river, unless they had to for work. Here, people go back and forth all the time. We've already had field trips to Arkansas and Louisiana, although that may be because there really isn't anything interesting in this part of Texas. I know - I've looked.
That is, of course, part of the reason we moved here. We've pretty much been everywhere in Texas. I mean it, we have. Even places that people say NO ONE has ever heard of - we've been there. Being here opens us up to travel to more parts of the country - we don't have to add an extra travel day just to get out of Texas. Hopefully, this will spark some more blogs, and I can start posting more regularly. Until then...
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MC
Don't Panic!
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