You might be from Texas…by Jolene Navarro
Hola! Jolene Navarro here, checking in from the beautiful Texas Hill Country.
If you’ve been around you know I’m proud to be a 7th generation Texan. Yes, my family came down before we were a state, claimed land, built a community and helped gain independence from Mexico. But that’s all history.
Texans tend to be vocal about their pride of being Texan. Even newly planted Texans have bumper stickers and t-shirts that say “I wasn’t born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could.”
All of my books are set in Texas. I have some in the Hill Country and a new series on a ranch along the Texas coast. The Cowboys of Diamondback Ranch started with The Texan’s Secret Daughter. The next one out is The Texan’s Surprise Return. It will be in Walmart around October 15. The third, The Texan’s Promise is an Easter story and will arrive March 1st.
The Cowboys of Diamondback Ranch
I love this series. Texas is what made the De La Rosa family the strong stubborn people they are. Texas is a character, just like any good setting should be.
Coming from Texas there are just some things I know without question. If you from another area I want to know some of your unspoken rules or “understandings.”
What brought this to mind was another author asking about BBQs in the south. I thought it would be fun to list some “facts” about Texas that might not be understood elsewhere.
1. You have at least one picture of bluebonnets in your family album. Really people, you need to be careful sitting your kids in the middle of that beautiful patch of wildflowers…snakes like to hang out there.
2.. If you are in Texas and want to order hot tea or unsweetened tea…you have to be upfront about this. In Texas when you order tea it will be delivered with a smile, lots of ice and sugar brewed right in.
Mountain Oysters? Don’t ask.
3. Texans know what a mountain oyster is. If someone offers you mountain oyster, don’t take them…don’t ask.
4. Blue Bell Ice Cream – That’s it. Always say yes to Blue Bell.
Blue Bell Ice Cream
If you are in Texas that is your Ice Cream and no one better mess with it.
5. BBQ – the topic that got me started on this. When you get invited to a BBQ or you’re going to eat BBQ it involves a huge pit where they smoke big slabs of meat. Brisket being number one, but it can include chicken, sausage or turkey. Never hamburger or hot dogs. That is just grilling outside.
6. Speaking of BBQ it is a food group in Texas along with Tex-Mex and Chicken Fried Steak.
Texas Food Pyramid
7. Whataburger is another main food source and I think just about every kid at one point thought it was Waterburger. You can’t keep a Texan away from their Whataburger – even during extreme weather.
We love our What-A-Burger
8. In Texas weather is an extreme sport. And we say things like “It’s not the heat it’s the humidity.” Or “You think it’s hot now wait until August.” It reads more like a time but then in a week, it could be dipping into freezing then going back to the 90s.
Weather is an Extreme sport in Texas
9. On the topic of weather, I think it’s common knowledge that we shut down if a snowflake appears. We just don’t get snow often enough to not be awed by it.
No white Christmas in Texas so a Hayman it is.
One Christmas we ended up on the side of the road with a second flat on Christmas Day. As we waited for my husband to get back from Walmart with a new tire, my kids built a “snowman” in the hay.
10. Some say that Texas doesn’t have four seasons. That’s not true. We have Summer. Baseball season. Football season and basketball season. For a bonus, we have Hunting Season…we have five.
11. If you hear a Texan “fixin’” to do something – nothing is broken. They are going somewhere. It doesn’t make sense but it’s true.
12. Texans are raised to help the English language be clear…when making you a plural we say y’all – which is short for you all. The proper use of you as a singular and plural is just too confusing. Then there is the plural possessive y’all’s.
13. Growing up in Texas for the first 8 or 9 years I thought there were only two colleges to pick from. You had to be a Longhorn or an Aggie. I had no idea what an “Aggie” was so I picked the Longhorns. LOL
Are you a Longhorn or Aggie?
14. The last one I’m going to bring up is one I disagree with. Every time I see a This-is-how-Texans-do-it list – I see this: “It’s not chili if it has beans in it.” I’m not sure who decided this, but it is wrong. My family has always put beans in our chili – black bean or pinto beans. I think my family is pretty Texan. So, some things are just stereotypes that can’t be trusted. Haha.
What about you? Do you have things that are regional? Only the people from your neck-of-the-woods understand that this is the only and right way to do it?
Maybe you’re from Texas and disagree with some of my list. Where do you stand on the chile/bean debate?
When you read, do you like to see those like cultural truths that might not be true for anyone else?
Tell me were you’re from and something your people are proud of.
If you leave a comment about your state I’ll enter your name for a random winner of my little slice of Texas. You can win an early copy of The Texan’s Surprise Return.
Jolene’s life, much like her stories, is filled with faith, family, and all of life's wonderful messiness. She knows that, as much as the world changes, people stay the same. Good and evil. Vow-keepers and heart breakers. Jolene married a vow-keeper who showed her that holding hands and dancing in the rain never gets old. She loves creating stories of love and faith in her much loved Texas.
I love reading about your all things Texas! A lot of those hold true for the South in general like fixin to and sweet tea. I live in Florida so we have those as well, but I am from NJ so it was a culture shock for me when I came here!
As a fellow Texan, I love everything about this post. I live in Virginia right now and the thing I miss the most is Blue Bell ice cream. *sigh* And Big Red, good Mexican food, and…I should probably stop making myself so sad.
Hi Jolene, how fun- it is interesting to learn more about regional differences. I live in Victoria, Australia- we are known for having 4 seasons of weather in one day. Not long after moving here, we learned to keep a spare jumper in the car for just in case, and we learned how to wear layers. We are also known for hook turns in the city and having fantastic cafes. Victorians eat potato cakes, wear swimmers to the beach (not togs) and thongs on our feet and use an esky to keep our food cool. A barbie is a BBQ and a barbie at the beach is a great way to spend Christmas day.
Blessings:)
I’m from Tennessee transplanted to Georgia 5 years ago to be with my daughter and her family. A lot of your post applies to all the south except in Tennessee your blood runs orange for the vols. 😂
Hi Jolene! What a Friday Fun post. I agree with Wemble and enjoy reading about regional differences. Things People from MICHIGAN have to explain to out-of-towners.
1. Directions in Michigan are simple as using your hand (Mitten State). 2. A trip to the lakes beats a trip to the ocean. 3. We have Yoopers (live in the UP) and Trolls. 4. Vernors Ale cure almost everything. 5. Michigan’s Might Mac won’t blow your diet. 6. Once a Michigander – Always a Michigan. There are more – we have others about the weather, seasons, sports, and for driving we have the Michigan left. Even though I am a German American, I am a proud third generation Michigander – I have lived in 6 different cities. Best wishes and enjoy your weekend.
I am also from Texas. One that I would add is that Texans are resilient and when things get tough, we pull together. I am from Odessa and we have had a good example of that this week.
Hi Paula. Thanks for stopping by. Texans and Southerns have a great deal in common. Hope you settled in bless your little heart…lol. Have a great weekend.
I am from Ohio and we are very proud of our football. Go Bucks! We even have the Football Hall of Fame. The college I went to was even known as the Cradle of Coaches. We are also proud of our First in Flight and many other famous Americans.
There is no way to explain Big Red to someone that has not had the drink. :)
LOL Brenda. Yes. I had a boss that came from Tennessee and she had an orange UT on her car. Totally confused because our UT (University of Texas) is orange also – a little darker orange. A kid my boys played with was signed to be quarterback at your UT and fans that live in the San Antonio area would come to the games to support him. It was pretty cool.
What a fun comment Renate – the best part – I have no clue what some of that even means. LOL Like you are speaking in a different language. I love that you can use your hand to show a location in the state.
Susan, I have so many friends from Odessa – and they take tough to a whole new level. My prayers and thoughts are with you.
Hi Wemble. OH! Your home is one of the places I want to go to so bad! I don’t have a clue what togs are. LOL But a barbie on the beach is awesome. :)
I agree, a lot of this is common for the south. And, I’m darn tootin’ proud of it. I was born & raised in Florida. I had never heard of a Florida room until I was a teen and my dad built our house with one. Don’t know if Texas has one, but I’ve only seen them in Florida :)
Ohio is close to my heart. My grandfather Carl Guinther was from your state and flew the University of Ohio flag (that where he went to school) He was sent to Texas during WW2 and met my grandmother. They married and he made Texas his home after the war…but he was the reason I learned that there were more than two colleges in the world. I made the mistake of asking him if he was a longhorn or Aggie. LOL You can imagine his response.
Hi Michelle. Is a Florida room a screened in porch? I have no idea. :)
I like reading things like this in books! It makes it interesting to find out things about that area. I’m a native Floridian, and we say y’all all of the time! I think that’s mostly a Southern thing. One thing that is a definite in my city (and those close by!) is going to Del’s Freeze for our soft serve ice cream and blizzards. It’s like a right of passage to go there, and if someone asks where to get ice cream, all of the natives send them there!!
Hey Jolene, I was born in Texas, but only lived there a year before moving to Va. where I have lived ever since. Right now we are riding out the wind and rain of hurricane Dorian.
What a fun list of “only in Texas”!
Let’s see, I’d say in Virginia we are best know for how much of our nation’s history began here. There are dozen’s of historical sites, a few of the most well known would be Jamestown, Williamsburg, Monticello, Mount Vernon and the Appomattox Court House where Lee surrendered to Grant in 1865 ending the Civil War.
You can be on the coast at the beach and four hours later be climbing a mountain in Shenandoah National Park or descending into a cave at Luray Caverns.
I’d love to read The Texan’s Surprise Return. That cover has already stolen my heart!
Thanks for the list , it was entertaining!! We’ve just moved to southern Kentucky from the Washington DC area so have been learning some southern living. Sweet tea is the assumed drink, hot tea which I order frequently gets me strange looks, multiple questions or just sweet tea. One guy even insisted I had ordered sweet tea, which to me tastes like syrup and can be used as a sweetener.
My husband caused traffic jams in the parking lot. In DC you wait for traffic to whiz by, even in the parking lot, and the cross. Here they stop and wait for us to go even with a line of cars behind them. I keep telling him we have to go ahead so the cars can move. He’s starting to catch on.
Looking forward to reading your new book. I enjoy Texas as a setting and a character.
Its supposed to be and “then cross “referring to parking lot. Not “the cross “which is very different
no, a Florida room is a room that has a slight step down. It is like an extra living room area that you step down into. Since Florida doesn’t have basements we have the next best thing (Florida room) :)
I also live in the Texas Hill Country and your list is right on about Texas.
Hi Jolene, I just Googled `Florida room`. In the 70’s our’s wasn’t a glassed in porch. It was as I described above. However, it did have sliding glass doors and 1 wall. The place where the 2nd wall would be was where the step down was and a fixture dividing the living room and the Florida room <3 Hard to describe :)
Jolene, I enjoyed your post. I’ve lived all over, and 4 of those years were spent in Texas, but I never did take to Blue Bell ice cream. Too rich. My kids thought it tasted like cheese. :) I always put beans in my chili.
Fellow Texan here…and I also like beans in my chili!
Michiganders are unique. The U-P is the Upper Peninsula and Yoopers are the people that live in the UP. Trolls live below the MIghty Mac bridge. Think fairy tales and how trolls live under the bridge. The Might Mac is a five mile long suspension bridge – one of the longest ever constructed when it was completed in 1958. Real name Mackinaw Bridge but we have our nickname.
Oh – We called those a sunken living room. They were very popular in the late 70 early 80. :)
Del Freeze. I will have to look it up if I’m in the area. I love it when local places show up in a book.
Our country is amazing when it comes to diversity on landscape in one state. And I love all the history in your state. Thanks for stopping by.
That is so true about the traffic. Expect for Houston…in Houston no one yields so you have to be careful. LOL When I moved back to the Hill Country from Houston people would honk at me to move….I was waiting. lol
Thanks Beth. :)
Cheese? Mint Chocolate chip is my go to…so that has to be some strange cheese you feed your kids. lol
I want to know who said Texan’s don’t put beans in their chili? We are Texans and we eat beans in our chili. lol
I went to an appreciation dinner with my FMO a couple of years ago. I’m the only FL native, only one actually born in the county we work in, native of the city. One of the ones from the FMO asked where to go for ice cream. The other kinda looked blank, then said Cold Stone. One of the ones from the FMO looked at me and asked me where they should go. I said if you want the best ice cream, you’ll go to Del’s. They were like, see, if you want to know the best place, ask the one that’s from here. They told me later that I was sooo right, and they’d be going back to Del’s again!!
LOL, I’m definitely not from Texas…BUT…I’m intrigued to visit after reading the list :)
This is a fun list. And it makes sense to me that my American friends used to tell me that I’m from the “Texas of Brazil” state.
A lot of differences but the main sense of cultural pride and peculiar traditions. Plus the whole story about being independent and eating BBQ in our own style (I think you have “churrascaria” in Texas, have you tried? No grilling allowed. https://images.app.goo.gl/SFbiGChD2Msh9xJf8).
Reading about other places without leaving home is one of the reasons I love to read.
Lol…Brazilian Steak house has become a huge think here in Texas. Meat meat and more meat. Love it.
Wemble, I am from South Australia and here its bathers although we use to say swimming togs (Jolene that’s your bathing costume).
The other thing both states do is put a prawn on the barbie not shrimp.
I’m late again. I am from South Australia and we do have some distinctly SA things compared to other states like Fritz. Its a processed meat it has ham in it and it often has a smilely face in it and given to kids at the supermarket. (Not as big a fan of fritz). We also call flip flops, thongs. If you Adelaide you often say meet you at the beehive corner and most know with corner it is in the CBD.
If we say see you later it stands for good bye. We may never ever see you again but everyone knows its code for good bye.
We also say how are you going (sounds like how you going). it means how are you feeling today not what sort of transport you are taking.
Also most of the time if you are going to answer the person asking has already moved on. Most don’t really want to know its just the way as saying hello.
almost everythings is shortened. Afternoon (arvo), Cup of Coffee (cuppa). Breakfast (brekkie), McDonalds (Macca’s), Football (footy), Operation (op).
I loved learning about Texas through your list! I have a few friends who moved out to TX from the Northeast and it’s so interesting how life is different in the Houston suburbs vs. Dallas. I live in the tiny state of NJ…. and know all about our stereotypes from TV, books, media…. unfortunately the obnoxious smell near the Northern section of NJ Turnpike is true….
Laughing at how many similarities Texas and Florida share in terms of weather! We exchange hurricane season for your hunting but live the truth of the humidity every day! Life in Paradise has its moments fer shure
I lived in Texas for 4 years. Loved it. The first place we head for when we visit the Lone Star state is Whataburger. Can’t beat that burger.
Love this post — because it’s all SO true! I was born in Iowa, but we moved to Austin when I was in the fourth grade. I’ve lived in the Hill Country for the last 19 years.
We had one of those bumper stickers!
What’s another one that my Iowa relatives seem to be confused when I ask? “Coke” meaning any kind of soft drink.
My husband:
“Pick up some Cokes from the store.”
Me: “Okay. What kind of Coke do you want?”
Husband: “I guess Dr. Pepper today. ”
Ha! True, right?
I currently live in VA and many of the things you said about Texas can apply to the part of VA I live in. Northern VA is incredly different and identifies more, culturally speaking, with DC than the south. But one thing most of us do is refer to Washington DC as simply DC. If someone says the whole name or just Washington, they either aren’t from here or haven’t ventured up to the DC area much.
Southern Indiana … there are a lot of small town festivals in our area,
Hi, Jolene! I live in central Vermont, born and raised! Up here we’re very proud of our maple syrup. Did you know it takes as much as 40 gallons of maple sap to make just 1 gallon of syrup? Fair season is going on now and when browsing the midway you can find maple sugar candy, maple kettle corn, maple frosted donuts, maple creemies (what we call soft serve ice cream!) and even maple cotton candy! It even creeps into our speech, for example you might hear somebody say “We’ll have to see how it all sugars off.” Translation: how it ends up, the end result. This is a reference to the process of boiling the water out of maple sap to leave the sugar behind and turn it into syrup, it takes many hours and you just have to wait and see how light or dark the syrup ends up and how light or strong the flavor! Awesome post, I love to read these types of details in books, it’s so fun to see the differences and similarities between how things are said/done in different states!
Love this list. We greet each other with “How are ya?” but don’t really expect an answer other than Good and you? LOL
LOL – Yes with in Texas we have some cultural differences. You have some great music that comes form NJ.
We do have a great deal in common. We also have a hurricane season along the coast – The Houston area is still showing effects of Harvey. Y’all get it from both sides. This seems to have been a slower season then usual but we have a couple more months – hopefully it will go out just as quiet.
That is so true about Coke. LOL
It’s little things like that that can show right away if someone is from the area. :)
Small town festivals are the best.
Wow – I didn’t know that about maple syrup. I had a reader ask me about Big Red and Frito Pie – When I explained it to her she said she wanted to share some her her Vermont with me. I received a case of little syrup bottles (organic) from her. It was so good – Now I order on line. lol
Hello Jolene I am from OH-IO Go Bucks!
Here we can often say how are you and even before you can say good we have moved on.
One other thing especially for country people. We say I’m going down the street.
To us it means we are going shopping down the main street. Most small town’s don’t have malls and are in the main streets.
I know it can confuse people when I say I’m going down the street shortly.