Language_Big Spring_JS_07222024

This is [Interviewer]. Today is the 22nd of July, and I'm here in [Town] for an interview with one of our community members. Before we begin, I'd like to get verbal consent for the form we went over, could you please say I consent to being interviewed and audio recorded for this study?

I consent to being audio recorded for this study.

Thank you. To get started, can you tell me about how you came to live in [Town]?

I was born here. Uhm- My parents were in- uh- had a retail store.

Oh, wow. Is that, uh- still around today? Or have they retired it?

The wife and I bought the store in 78. And we sold it about 5 years ago. It's been in business for 94 years.

Oh, wow. Could you tell me a little bit more about this community? How would you describe it to someone who doesn't live here?

Uh- It's, it's- uh- uh- it's a good place to live. It's an interesting town. Uh- When we, when I was growing up here, we had the air base here. So we had people from all over the country, uh- in and out, and so it was- I went to school with people from all over the country, and, uh- we also had the airmen here that, uh- you know, we also- you know, we're in- in our community that we got to communicate with- with. And, uh- so it was, um- it was an interesting place to be. Uh- [Town], because of the Air Base, I think, uh- people all over the country, were kind of familiar with it, because so many people have been in and out here with the base, but, uh- it was big enough town to have most of the things that you'd want to do in a town, and- and yet small enough to still be a- a small town atmosphere.

Yeah, I will say I've met a lot of, uh- people just out and about. It seems like everywhere we go, we find somebody who's from [Town], has family in [Town]. How do you- would you say, uh- the community has changed throughout your time living here?

Well, of course, when the, uh- The biggest change probably was when the air base closed, because our- our population dropped fairly dramatically. Uh- It kind of created some issues with the infrastructure. The community, because we had a infrastructure for 35,000 people and we had 15 or 20,000 people living here, so there was a glut of housing, and, um- there was, uh- probably not at that point enough people to, uh- keep the- all of the businesses and so forth open, so some things closed, and, uh- real estate market was depressed for- for years after the closure because of the glut of housing and, uh- commercial- commercial buildings. So- It used to be a really cheap place to live in some ways because of the, uh- housing costs and, uh- real estate prices. Uh- That was probably the biggest difference, biggest change. Uh- It's, uh- kind of grown with the country, it's become- You know, at one time, we were a little more, uh- separated. we had the minority community was pretty much on one side of the- on the- on the, uh- north side of town, and the- and the white community was on the South side of town. And that's since changed, and now everything's kind of integrated together. So it's not, uh- separate like it was. We had a- Originally, we had a- a minority high school and a- and a majority high school, and now, we have one high school, so that's probably all a good thing. Uh- And anyway, It's kept kind of- It's kind of grown with the country and changed with the- with the country, as far as, you know things socially and politically in every other way. Uh- In the last, uh- few years, a big change has been with the oil booms and busts when the, uh- oil boom would- would come we would, you know- Money would flow, and everybody was smiling. Everybody had monies. Money was flowing, and then when the bust would hit, everybody was crying and poor and- and so it was you know that cycle has been pretty, uh- pretty common over the last few years we've had the boom and bust, uh- going on for quite a while now. And right now we're probably kind of in a semi boom, still- still good. Prices of oil is high, and, uh- wages are good here for the most part. So it's, uh- I think- I think in some ways it's a relatively, uh- uh- comfortable community, as far as- You know, there are- you know, there are some, uh- people that are struggling, but, uh- there's plenty of jobs and wages are actually pretty good here.

What would you say are the strengths of this community?

Well, the strength of every community is probably the people. Uh- I think we have some- we have some very talented people here in this community. Uh- The- uh- A lot of people, you know, with the school systems, and with the, uh- refinery, and with the, uh- you know, different, uh- professions and the retail community, I think it's- uh- Our retail community has suffered a little bit. We, you know- I- When I grew up here, we had, you know, four men's stores, and now there's not really one. Um- We had, you know, several ladies clothing stores, and we had a bicycle shop and a gun store and gun repair store and we had- we had, uh- you know, a- a cafeteria. We had first cafeteria. We had the malls, big malls with lots of stores, and a lot of those stores are going away because of, uh- a lot of reasons. But, uh-anyway, it's, uh- it's different now than it was but, uh- we still have- we still have some good businesses here, and some good- and lots of good people here.

And, uh- what would you say are the weaknesses?

Well, the weaknesses of the community are probably the fact that we are too small to- uh- to get, you know, some of the retail, so it's, you know, and we've had issues in the last- I- When I was, you know- over the years, and one time we had like, 5 hospitals in town, and now the hospital- the 1 hospital we have is struggling. Uh- We got some doc in a boxes and popped in and kind of changed the format with how medical- medical tr- treatment is- is given but, uh- the school system struggles a little bit, and one of the reasons for that is that, uh- a lot of the better students tend to try to move to [Neighboring Community 2] or [Neighboring Community]. I'm not really sure the significance of that, but, uh- it seems like we- we have an issue with- uh- at the school systems because some of our more affluent students, uh- are moving to the small communities around us, and of course, I when I was here, we all went to the Big Spring schools, and so I don't completely understand that- that whole concept. Uh- I had my children both went to the public schools here, but, um- I'm not sure that my grandchildren will. They both- My grandchildren here are- are going to a private school, but they're just in, uh- third grade, so it's not a huge big deal, but, uh- anyway, probably right now is the school system struggles a little bit the hospital is struggling a little bit, um- and we don't have the retail. So a lot of people have to travel to- to go shop, and if they- you know, if you- if you want to buy a suit, you probably have to drive to [West Texas Community]. If you want to- If a woman wants to drive and wants to buy clothes, she's probably going to be somewhat limited in here what she can- where she can shop. So shopping and education and hospitals probably are all a little bit weak right now

Could you tell me about your roles and relationships you have in this community?

My roles?

Are you a member of a church maybe?

Mhm. Yeah. We go to the [This Church]. we- I went to, uh- [Address] [This Church]. When we first moved back here we- we- we lived here, right? My wife and I both taught school. Uh- I taught school for six years, and she taught school for I think, three years, and then she started having babies. Um- I was a band director in three different communities. And, uh- then we came back to [Town] in, uh- 79 and, uh- bought the furniture store from my dad. And, uh- so yeah, We- I- You know, I was we've been involved with church. I was, uh- was in the Lions Club. I was president the Lions Club for a while. Uh- I started when I- it's- at some point in time with my career, I stopped being- running the retail store and started selling furniture wholesale so I started traveling and when I did that, I kind of dropped out of some of the last love and some of the social things in town because I was gone a lot, but, uh- you I have been somewhat active in the community as far as you know, service clubs and, uh- chamber commerce and stuff like that.

And, uh- you mentioned that you guys were teachers, are you part of any social boards or something like that?

No, we're really not. We've been out of teaching since 79. So we kind of- that's kind of a- kind of uh- we kind of left the education field and got into the retail deal for most of our time here.

So you mentioned that you do kind of wholesale furniture. Is that still what you do for work?

I still do a little bit of wholesale. I still have 1 line that I sell. Um- I semi-retired when we sold the furniture store, uh- I think we sold this furniture store, and it's been about 5 years ago, so I guess it was probably 2019, 2018, something like that, uh- Since we sold the store, we've- I've kind of backed off with the wholesale. I had 2, 3 lines. Now, I just have 1, and, uh- so I still- I still do enough to say I do it, but that's about all

Do you think your connections in the community influence your working with furniture?

Well, it- it, uh- of course, the- the wholesale furniture is a little bit different. I- I call on, uh- furniture stores in other communities. So, uh- Most of the people in Big Spring probably don't even know that I do that, so it's not really associated with- with this community much, that part of my job.

That's interesting. I'd like to talk a little more about that. Uh- You said you bought the furniture store from your parents right? Was it a furniture store then?

Yes. My- my granddad store started the furniture store in 1926 in [North Texas Community #3], and moved to [North Texas Community #4] and then, uh- had a store in [North Texas Community #4] and a store over here in [Town], and then eventually closed the [North Texas Community #4] store. He had three sons, and they all worked in the store, and, uh- my dad eventually bought the other two brothers out. Uh- One opened a store in Lubbock, and the other one went to work for Job Corps in the hill country. They both moved out of [Town], and so my dad bought a furniture store and ran it. I worked with him in high school. I was- I did his delivery in high school. Then when after I went in, got started teaching. Tick Tock for six years, and then he decided to retire, and he asked me if I wanted to come back and get in the furniture business. And so we had to make a decision as to whether we were going to stay in teaching or get into retail. Uh- We- we had to kind of decide because if we didn't come back, he was going to close the store. So, uh- we decided to give it a try. We came back and, uh- never looked back. So we've been- been here since 79, back in the community.

So you've pretty much been doing this your whole life, right?

Pretty much, yeah, with the exception of that six year stint- uh- six years of teaching and four years of going to school- Um- The rest of the time was pretty much in [Town].

What aspects of, uh- furniture construction bring you the most joy or satisfaction?

Um- Well, the furniture business, uh- it was- it was an interesting, uh- career, because you- you dealt with- to deal with the community. You deal with the public. Um- Obviously, when you deal with the public, you have good and bad experiences, you know, people, the vast majority of your customers are just fabulous people and easy to deal with, and a very small percentage of them are difficult. Uh- As far as the quality of the furniture, it- uh it has- It's changed, obviously, over the years, and, you know, it, uh- We went from everything being made in the United States to most of the case goods being made overseas. And, uh- mattresses and upholstery urniture, most upholstery furniture was still mostly made in the United- US. But, uh- most of your bedroom suits, dining suits, dinners tables, entertainment centers, all that, bookcases, all that stuff started being made overseas for the most part. And so it was a different- You know, it kind of changed the way we looked at everything. Uh- Prices, you know, they were cheaper whenever you got it from overseas, but after we succeeded in closing all of our facilities here to make furniture then, uh- we were kind of- we were kind of messed up when prices started going back up for stuff we're buying overseas. It was hard to turn that retail- or that hold- that, uh- the making of furniture, it was hard to- to change that we- we- They sold off most of their equipment, and closed- closed or sold off a lot of their buildings, and so they leave. They lost their workforces, so, you know, it's takes years and years to build up a- uh- that structure to make something and when you when you lose it, it's hard to come back. And it's been coming back some but, uh- casegoods are still predominantly made overseas.

And so would, uh- Would that and kind of like the change in prices be the biggest challenge you face in your work?

Well, the biggest challenge, uh, you know, and it's funny. We sold the store about four months before COVID hit, and so we missed out on the COVID- being in business during COVID. And I know there were a lot of challenges because I was calling on stores with my wholesale furniture business. I was calling on some of those stores, and COVID created massive changes in- in every business. uh- All of the rules that I would live by when we were in retail furniture went away. Uh- The biggest problem with COVID was, uh- transportation. Um- People were bringing in containers of furniture from oversea, and at one time, you could bring a container over from China for about- the freight would have probably been about two to four thousand dollars for the freight. And, uh- during the pandemic, that freight price went to 25,000. So to bring a container furniture of back over here from overseas, the freight was, in many cases, was more than the furniture. So the- the process were dramatically increased. The, uh- cost, The landed cost of furniture was so dramatically changed that, uh- it was- it was hard for me to relate because things that- you know prices that I was used to in my retail experience were just, uh- not even close. Prices went stupid. And, uh- they've come back down some, but just like we're kind of experienced with this last inflation cycle that we went through, prices go up, that they- The inflation might come down but the process don't seem to go down. Once you get to a price, once the price gets to a certain level, it might not go up again. But it probably isn't gonna go backwards to where it was. Now, it may go back a little, but you know. I know, the cost of materials if you're building a house just during COVID, It was just crazy. You know, things for just furnit- lumber was just crazy. Everything was crazy. And, uh- then, you know, then that kind of went away, and now, we've got this inflation thing, and it's kind of- kind of the next big problem. Hopefully, we can get that resolved.

And have you seen the like, that rise in the cost to live? Do you think that's affected the community at all?

Oh, for sure. Uh- It grieves me to think about, uh- the people that are on the lowest end of the socio economic ladder. They're- they're faced with the same prices that everybody else is faced with, and yet they don't have the, uh- means to keep up. Because their- their salaries haven't gone up commensurate with the process. So if you were- if you were living paycheck to paycheck, now you're- now you're just living- you're- you're struggling to live. So it's gotta be hard on everybody, especially the lower socio economic groups.

You said you're semi retired. So what does the typical day look like for you?

Well, I- Things have changed a little bit. I, uh- we bought a house in [Coastal Area], and so we're back and forth from there quite a bit. I joined a community band. I was a band director, and so I, uh- still have a fondness for music, and, uh- so I joined a community band in [Central Texas Community] and tried to go back there Thursday night for rehearsals. And, uh- and then we and the community that- uh- that the house we bought in- in, uh- [Coastal Area], they have a pickleball, uh- that we- They have pickleball every- every couple of weeks, so I try to go back and forth for the community band and the pickleball there in, uh- [Central Texas Community] and [Coastal Area] and so I'm back and forth on the road quite a bit now. Uh- I still travel. I was in [West Texas Community #4] a couple of weeks ago, calling on some counts with my wholesale line. Uh- I still go to [North Texas Community #5], [North Texas Community #6], um- kind of, you know, seeing some of my dealers that I still call on and, uh- small towns in between. Um- My- I'd say the biggest change in my lifestyle- I'm still doing quite a bit of traveling. I was doing more traveling when I was on the road a lot with- with work. I'm still on the road but now it's probably more for pleasure than for work. We- we, uh- took the grandchildren to, uh- two of the grandchildren to [State], and then we met the other grandchildren at [National Park], and then we went to, uh- [Coastal Area #2] for a few days with, uh- with that the other kid, youngest child and her her boys and husband. So we're doing a little more traveling a little more, uh- pickleballing and music playing then- then before.

Going to [Central Texas Community] every Thursday?

I- I try to. I don't get there every S- every week, but I try to. Yeah.

Yeah, I gotta roll through [Central Texas Community] on my way to school, and that is just an insane drive. Yeah, I'm part of [An Organization], and I still like gripe about having to make like the journey a week early before school starts.

Yeah.

What type of music do you like?

I have the, uh- completely, uh- unending, uh- like of music it's crazy. I- I- I like to listen to Italian tenors. I like hard rock. I'm not- I like, uh- guitar music. I like, uh- I like band music, orchestra, orchestral music. I like some really highbrow stuff with opera, and- uh- but I really have gotten into the Spanish music leg- lately. So I don't know, see I- I'm kind of all over the board. If you looked at my playlist in Spotify, you'd probably go: Weird. Because it's- it's completely all over the place. Uh- I was looking- I mean, if you look at- you know, I've got, uh- James Brown, Michael Jackson, uh- and then, uh- I can't think of his name. It's a Spanish singer that I think is so good. And, uh- I still have some Pavarotti stuff that I think is- is fabulous. Uh- And then I like to- classical guitar. I really love classical guitar. So I don't know. It's just- Truly I even like, uh- mariachi. I've got- I've got a couple of mariachi albums that I- that I enjoy listening to. So just I don't know, I guess it's all music

Going off of that, uh- A lot of people think the 1990s as the, uh- golden decade of pop music. Would you agree?

No, It had to be the 60s. *laughter*

Ooh.

Yeah, the 60s were the Beatles and, uh- uh- I don't know. My memories gone, but, uh- all the- all of- all of the music that three dog night, and Chicago, and all that stuff. And then they were still around probably in the 90s maybe, but, uh in the 60s, early 70s. I, you know, I remember coming up with the Beatles and, uh- all those- all those Beach Boys, Righteous brothers- I don't know. There's a- you know, that was me- that was you know, I still think of that as being the best music. Of course, I guess whatever music was going on when you were in high school is probably the year- you probably think is the best music.

You know, Maybe. All right. Now let's talk a little bit more about your experiences as a resident of this community. For this first set of questions. I'll read a statement to you and I'd like you to indicate the extent to which you agree with each one. I'll give you an- a- Have you give your answer on a scale of one to four where one is completely disagree. Two is somewhat disagree. Three is somewhat agree. And four is completely agree. The first phrase is: I consider myself to be an American.

Four.

Using the same scale, how would you rate the following statement? I consider myself to be a Texan.

Four.

Okay, which of the following statements do you agree with the most strongly? One: I am American first and Texan second? Two: I'm Texan First and American second. Or three: Being Texan and American are equally important to me.

Probably two.

Next phrase is, uh- To be a true Texan, you must know how to speak English.

Three.

How about: To be a true Texan you must know how to speak Spanish.

One.

The next phrase is: In my community, you can do everything you want and get everything you need, even if you don't speak English.

Mm- Probably three.

All right. And finally: In my community life has been pretty stable over the last 40 years. Things haven't changed much.

Three.

Hm. Now I'd like to hear from you about the community itself. These are all free response. What are some of the things that have changed in this community over the past few decades?

Well, the community has, uh- I guess the biggest change is what we were- what I was talking about earlier with the change when the base closed, and then just in the last few years, with the change in our education and hospital situation. Uh- It's- it's made it to where you have to drive to [North Texas Community] or [West Texas Community] or [West Texas Community #5]. Of course, by having a house in [Coastal Area] we go to [Central Texas Community #2] for medical now quite a bit, and my urologist is now in [Central Texas Community #2]. My dermatologist is in [Coastal Area]. I've got a podiatrist in [Central Texas Community]. Uh- And then I also see a gastroenterologist in [North Texas Community]. So you know, when you get older, all you do is go the doctor. But, um- before we would go to- go to those specialties in [Town], and now we have to travel. Uh- And I don't- I don't have kids in school, but, uh- it seems like the schools have really changed. And I- I think in some ways, they may be improving. I don't know. I hear good things, but, uh-I know they did seem to go through a real struggle there for a while.

Overall, would you say this is a good community to live in?

I think it's a good commun- You know, every community has its ups and downs and goods and bads, and this community has more good than bad. Uh- Uh- There's- there's obviously problems here, but, uh- there's problems everywhere. It is a relatively- I think, a relatively, uh- easy community as far as cost of living. I think the cost of living here is fairly low, so I think you can probably get it- get housing and some other things here a little cheaper than you could in some other places. But, uh- so it has, you know, a positives in those. As far as the shopping availability, that- that's a struggle, and the hospitalsl like we talked about. Schooling, maybe problems, but I guess it's kind of a mixed- mixed bag with everything.

You said you grew up here, right?

Mhm.

What is or was the best part about being a kid in [Town]?

Being a kid in [Town] was, uh- it was a lot of fun. We had, uh- had, you know, had lots of friends. Uh- We- we'd, uh- go to the YMCA, play racquetball, swim, uh- You know, we had, uh- lots of community activities that we went to, uh- church activities. There was there was a good- a good mix of people here. Especially when the base was here. It was- It was a real- uh- It's really, uh- You're exposed to, uh- you know, a whole lot of things that you probably wouldn't have been exposed to in a town that didn't have, you know, an airbase that everybody's really kind of made it a little more interesting to live here. We had a foreign car repair shop in [Town], Texas. You know, [Local] motors. I think it's [Local]. [Local something, anyway, yeah, we had a foreign car repair shop here because all the American airmen love- The airmen drove foreign cars. And, uh- so we had- We had a Chinese restaurant before Chinese restaurants were even a thing. So you know, we- [Town] had some things that not every community had.

Sounds like fun. Do you feel that the traditional way of life of this community is going away?

Well, I guess it's definitely changed. Uh- The service clubs seem to me to be a little bit pushed to the back. You know, they- I think- You know, we had real strong service clubs here, that Rotary and Lions Club and, uh- I don't know. There were just a bunch of different things, uh- and they- I don't know. They may still be strong. I'm just not involved anymore, but they- uh- that seems to- to not be quite as strong as it used to be. Uh- The churches are- I think some of the churches have struggled. I know there's a couple of churches that have actually closed, uh- so I think some things have changed for sure.

What do you think is changing things?

As far as the churches, I think part of it is just, uh- the people are you know, probably a little bit less religious than they were at one time, and, uh- so that's created a little problem for churches, uh- I'm not really sure what all changes things.

Alright. Some more fun questions. What's your favorite sports team?

Well, I'm a- a Red Raider, so I- I follow the Red Raiders pretty- pretty hard. The, uh- Houston Astros are some- a team that I follow. I've been following the Houston Astros. When I started following them in high school, they were the Colt .45s, and then they, uh- you know, went to the- built the Astrodome and- and eventually became the Houston Astros. That was- but I've been following them for most of my life. And so I guess the Astros would be pretty much at the top of that. But the, uh- since I went to college, university, you know, I follow the Texas Tech, sports, baseball, football, basketball.

So, uh- I haven't really been keeping up with Tech sports. How are they doing lately?

Oh, Tech- Tech does good. They, uh- Their, uh- baseball team won a national championship not too long ago, I think, and then won the World Series. And this year they they didn't- didn't get to the World Series, or they didn't get to the playoffs. [They had a-?] They had a struggle this year in baseball, but consistently, they've been- they've been in the World Series primarily. Last year's, uh- football- football with Tech is always- you know, you're always thinking: This is going to be the year, and it never is. It's kind of a- they're- They're kind of a challenge. Uh- Every year I think: Well, this is gonna be the year they're really going to be good, and then they- uh- You know, this last year was supposed to be a really good year for them, and then they- Their quarterback got hurt, and second quarterback got hurt, and third quarterback got hurt. And you know, they were practically out of quarterbacks. So you know that- They lost a couple of games this last year because of that- injuries in- uh- It could have been a pretty good year other than that, I think. But, uh- you know, here again, we got another year coming up, and on paper, they look really good. So we'll see what happens.

You have household chores when you were younger?

Yeah, I, uh- I mean, we- we had chores at home, but, uh- my memory of being a child or been- being- been- growing up was, uh- I went with my dad to work quite a bit. And, uh- you know, when I first went to [hit?] with him, he'd had me sweeping and dusting and, uh- moving furniture around in the store, and then eventually, [they'll?] help him with deliveries. By the time I got out of high school and- and, uh- summers going to university, I, uh- would actually hit up their delivery department. So I did- I did all the deliveries, and I'd find a helper usually to help me do the deliveries, so I pretty much took that off, but, uh- most of- most of my chores had to do with the- the furniture store

What was the- Was there any that you particularly didn't like?

Oh, you know, uh- Building reclining sofas are a pain in the neck. Uh- Pianos, if you have to move a piano every now and then that- I hated to move pianos, uh- but, uh- sleepers, [out of?] beds are- can be a struggle. But, uh or the most part, it's just- you know, it just, uh- Some are- some are heavier than others, but it's all about the same

And what about a chore you didn't mind so much? Or maybe even liked?

You know, I- I didn't mind work. Work was always, you know, just part of the day, and you know, I thought oh, I got- we've been bored without work. You know, so we- you know, everybody worked.

So you never got caught maybe pretending to do a chore but not really doing it?

Oh, probably not. I was- I was a pretty much of a rule follower.

Some people think it's hard for boys and girls to be friends. What do you think?

Oh, I don't know. I- I had- I had friends that were girls, that- you know, that- uh- I didn't- I didn't see a problem really.

Have you ever told a story about another person thinking they weren't around but then turned around and saw that they were close by?

Probably. So I don't think of a [time that-?] circumstance right now, but I probably- probably have. I'm not real bright sometimes. So that happens.

I understand. Uh- Is there anything else you'd like me to know about the community or your work with furniture?

Uh- I guess so. It- This, uh- I- I have good feelings about this town. You know, it's been my home nearly all my life. Uh- It's comfortable. It's- you- I feel safe here. I don't, uh- I don't have any horror stories of, you know, ill treatment or bad problems, you know, and being in this community. Uh- I'd say the community was very good to me, as far as my career, and the community was, uh- very supportive, in most ways, with my family, church, uh- business, friendships

Um- That's the extent of the questions I have. Thank you for- so much for taking the time to talk to me. Would it be okay if I asked just one more thing before we concluded the interview?

Sure.

Okay, one of our, uh- overarching research questions through the Home to Texas program is about linguistic changes in Texas. As a part of this project, a linguistics researcher is asking that interview participants read a brief passage. It should only take a couple minutes. It's a short made up story about life in Texas, that was created in the 1980s, and then- and since then, linguistics, researchers have recorded a few 100 Texans reading it, and they use these recordings to kind and- to, uh- try to track how speech in Texas varies over time. Would you be willing to read, uh- this brief passage out loud?

Sure.

All right, whenever you're ready.

I've lived in Texas all my life. I was born in Titus County, and when I was five, we moved to a farm near White House, which is southeast of Tyler. I liked growing up in the country. When my chores were done, I'd ride my horse, climb trees or hike down to the creek to fish- to fish or swim. One time, we tied a rope to a limb on a cypress tree, and we'd swing out wide over the swimming hole and drop into the water. I'd pretend to be Tarzan swinging on the vine. In the spring, I'd fly kites. On summer nights, we'd catch fireflies, but we call them lightning bugs. Once in a while, we'd have fights with corn cobs or pine cones. In the winter, we'd build a fire in the fireplace, and pop popcorn, and roast peanuts and pecans. I guess I was a live wire. When I was 19, I went to work in Dallas at a Firestone Tire store. I didn't like city life, and for a long time, I'd go home every chance I got. Mama would always cook my favorite foods: fried okra. hoppin John - That's rice and black eyed peas - and pecan pie. We had lots of good times, but going home is not the same now. After daddy died, Mama sold the farm and moved to Tyler. I'd rather be living on a farm right now instead of there- here in the city, but my wife and kids don't understand me when I gripe about my city life and talk about moving to the country. My oldest child says: Daddy, that's crazy. I just die if I had to live on a farm. I almost cried the first time she said that. I know Texas is changing, but I try to make sure we don't lose touch with our roots. While we may live in a city, I want my kids to have a good feeling for the land, have a sense of place, and take pride in being Texans. If they lose their- our ties to land, the price of progress is too high.

Thank you for contributing your voice to the collection. And again, thank you so much for talking to me. Uh- I know this is really short notice, and I appreciate your time and generosity. If you don't have any other questions or comments, would you feel comfortable if I ended the recording now?

Sure.