Tell a little bit about where you come from

[last_texas_dem]

(I've already mentioned some of this stuff before, and as much as I joke about not really caring for my hometown I must take some indescribable sort of pride in the place considering the amount I like to talk about it!)

I come from Orange (city) (pop. 19,000) in Orange County (pop. 85,000 or so), TX. Orange is the easternmost city in Texas, about a mile from the Louisiana border in far southeastern corner. Culturally and politically, it has about as much in common with southwest Louisiana as it does with southeast Texas. There is a major Cajun influence, and a sizeable Cajun population.

If you like forests of pine trees, rain, humidity, and swamps you might like it down here. The biggest downside is that, with our major industry being chemical plants, we are quite polluted. I have heard our area termed the "Cancer Belt" of Texas. We are also an area of Texas that is not particularly thriving in terms of population growth or our economy. The closing of the shipyards in the early 1980's has caused our population to drop by one-third (I have seen reports of 40,000+ people living here during World War II). The loss of these union members to other areas has also caused our area to turn more and more Republican, if not quite as badly as the rest of Texas. In recent elections, Orange County had only not voted for the Democrat twice, voting for Wallace (!) in '68 and Nixon in '72, but looks to have turned Republican under the Shrub, giving him 64-percent of the vote in '04.

Orange forms the "Golden Triangle" (I used to think this description was special to my area but have since heard it used to describe plenty of other places) with the bigger cities of Beaumont and Port Arthur in Jefferson County. Beaumont has about 114,000 people and Port Arthur slightly under 60,000. Along with Travis County (Austin), a dozen or so counties in south Texas, and a couple in far West Texas, Jefferson County was one of the few counties in Texas to vote for John Kerry for President, although not nearly with the margin it had supported Gore in 2000. Much of this has to do with Jefferson County's sizeable minority population. In my area, unlike most of Texas, the most significant minority population is African-American and not Latino. Port Arthur is actually a "majority minority" town, with a very large black population and sizeable Latino and Asian (largely Vietnamese) populations. Port Arthur is likely the reason that Jefferson stays a "blue" county.

Beaumont may be most famous for the "Spindletop" oil boom, and for giving us country singers Mark Chesnutt, Tracy Byrd, and George Jones (although the latter two may actually be from Vidor- Beaumont's lily-white suburb, perhaps most popular for being an unofficial HQ of the Ku Klux Klan). Port Arthur gave us Cowboys Coach Jimmy Johnson and rocker Janis Joplin (even though she hated the place.)

From what I said about Vidor, I'm sure it's apparent that there is some racial conflict in the area. From my experience it's actually not on the same level as other areas in the south, and from what I've heard, from other parts of the U.S. I've known a lot of ugly racists down here, but there is also more mixing of the races than I believe is common in other areas that are seen to be more "enlightened."

Politically, other than the sizeable Xian right population down here, the worst I can say is that this is an apathetic area of Texas. Basically the majority of the people here are economically moderate and socially conservative. They don't identify with the hard-right "Texas libertarian" ideology so common in much of the state, especially the rural areas. I think many don't feel they are represented by the powers-that-be on pretty much any level of government so many don't vote and very few become actively involved in politics. I think we were represented well (even though I'm further to the left than either of them) by the "Blue Dog" Democratic Rep. Jim Turner and moderate to liberal Dem Nick Lampson, who were two victims of Tom Delay's re-redistricting. (We are now represented by the Houston suburb-based right-wing nuts Kevin Brady and Ted Poe.) I think this area would get more Democratic voters out there if they felt like their votes would make a difference. Perhaps shifting demographics in the state as a whole, in the Democrats' favor will allow that to happen eventually in Texas, but that may be wishful thinking.


Alright, so that's probably more than anyone ever wanted to know about where I come from (and if I think of any more junk to add I just might have to!). I'm interested to see what it's like where others of you come from, so please post if you feel like telling about it.

[Skittles]

1. alas, like a lot of GI brats, that question always stumps me

I do like hearing the stories of those of you who actually did have some roots though :)

[last_texas_dem]

2. Well, I don't want to exclude anyone

I guess "where you come from" can be a little bit tough to determine for those who have lived in a lot of places. (FWIW, living in one place your whole life can be quite boring, and can also lead to people becoming narrow-minded and not caring about what goes on outside of their little corner of the world.)

So for those of you who haved lived in a lot of places, feel free to talk about where you were born, where you live now, whatever place feels the most like "home" to you.

:-)

[InvisibleTouch]

3. There's (literally) no place like home...

...when you've lived all over the world. I actually envy those who have been in one place long enough to put down roots and feel at home there, even though they'll say it's boring, and might envy those of us who got dragged all over the globe as kids. :)

And it definitely has its upside. You get to experience other cultures, come to realize that people in other countries live well also, and that people are pretty much people, no matter where you go. You get to see and experience things that lots of others don't. Definitely a good thing.

The downside is, you have no place to call home. Alright, let me amend that and speak only for myself: I have no place to call home. Even though the mad dash around the globe ended 20 years ago, my current location is hardly home, either. It's just a place where I got dumped off, at the end of the mad dash. I didn't choose to be here, and I've resisted relaxing into it, for all these years.

I know there's a "home" out there for me somewhere, but I'm not there yet. I will be, one day. Some place tropical, and far away from the rest of the world. Some place that I will choose as my home, and never have to leave. Right now, I spend a lot of time yearning for a home I never knew, and perhaps for a time that never existed.

So in response to the question "Where are you from?", I tend to just say: Long ago and far away. :)

[Skittles]

6. you are correct

there is nowhere I have ever considered "home" - where I am is just where I am at the time. See, I understand the narrowmindedness that can come from growing up in one place - yet I can still envy it. Mention any year of my life and I have to think about where I was. Play a song on the radio, however, and I know INSTANTLY where I was. :)

[last_texas_dem]

4. Kick

Man, I spent too much time writing to have this one sink as quickly as all the other threads I start! :-)

[yellowdogintexas]

5. First 20 years of my life were spent in Kentucky

near the Ky-Tn state line, slightly to the northwest of Nashville.

Very rural, nearest town population 200 or so. County seat of one county about 8000, the other county 3000. (I lived on the county line and went to school in both counties.

Our house was on an acre in the middle of a rather large field which was planted in wheat in the winter, followed by either late corn or soybeans in alternating years. The farm originally belonged to my mom's parents, so until I was 10 they were right across the road. My grandfather came over nearly every day to take us out to count the cows (code for get us out of our mother's hair and give him some solo grandaughter time).
My other grandparents were only 2 miles away in town, and we breezed in and out of their house often. I also had the good fortune to have a great aunt and uncle who had a big farm house and were like a third set of grandparents. Lots of opportunities to beg goodies, let me tell you.

My dad worked with his father and also for the post office, my mom stayed home with us. I have a sister 5 years younger and another who is 7 years younger than her. Our dad died when my youngest sister was 20.

My mom and her father and step mother were the root structure of my political& social beliefs. Solid Yellow dogs. My other relatives were probably all republicans although I think my other Grandmother voted for JFK . My mom was a solid Democrat until the day she died.

Growing up in a rural area like that had its moments of sheer inertia, but I read a lot and loved to pass the time outside in the shade with a good book. Or on my grandmother's porch swing, with a book, or in the mimosa tree...

However, after about age 10, if I went into town to hang out with my friends, we had total freedom to roam all over town, moving from one house to another. As long as we checked in from time to time to let my dad know the new location, we were fine. Halloween was a blast! All the old ladies seemed to be in competition to make the best home made goodies, and the older high school boys would hide in the hedgerows to jump out and scare us. It was a safe place to be a kid.

I graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1969, got married and moved up to Boston for a couple of years, then to Nashville, divorced and remarried, lived in Indiana for a while and am now in Texas.


There are times when I wish my daughter could have had the freedoms we had as kids, but times are so different now.

Going back to Kentucky is always a rejuvenator for me. Besides being with family and old friends, I love seeing the rolling farm land, the tree lined streams winding through the fields, the crops in the fields, even the tobacco..I hate each and every one of its products but damn! that stuff is pretty in the field, and in September and October when the barns are firing, it just smells heavenly, because the farmers use various aromatic woods to cure the leaf. It is just part of fall in Kentucky.

And of course I love visiting Mammoth Cave, where I spent many wonderful weekends with dear friends getting bruised and dirty underground OR cooking meals for the other folks who were underground.