My East Texas Drawl

"Despite the fact that certain features of Texas dialects of English are sometimes stimatized by speakers from other areas as hicky or 'incorrect,' Texans will continue to use them, partly because people who live in Texas wish to distinguish themselves form other Americans." 

- Keith Walters, University of Texas linguist

In college, I had several "ah-ha" moments that showed me more of who I was and who I wanted to be - One of those happened sitting in a lecture hall in Communication 101. My freshman year I entered college as a Communication major. I had been watching news programs for as long as I could remember and was always on top of current events. So naturally, as many of my classmates in my department, I was very interested at the time in persuing a career in broadcast journalism. That allllll changed when we studied accents.

Our professor had been teaching on the way people from different regions and communities within those regions communicate with one another, and how a language (like English) could vary across an area, specifically the United States. This was something that was very interesting to me and very relevant in my life at the time.

I had grown up in East Texas and in a family where the East Texas drawl was almost genetic. Although I had traveled some and had had many experiences that had made it clear that my Texan accent was distinctive, I had not yet noticed that what people were really hearing wasn't just a Texan accent, but my East Texan drawl.

Once in New York City I had tried to order "iced tea" and it took about 4 times of repeating and annunciating to the best of my ability for the waiter to understand.  My mom and I decided that because of the way us East Texans often pronounce our "i", my "iced tea" probably sounded like "ass tea." That was not on the menu...

I met a similar circumstance when in college when in a freshman bible study group my groupmates kept thinking I was saying "bobble",  not "bible." After moving out of East Texas to go to college at Texas A&M (where Texan accents were running wild), it became clear to me that The Drawl was taking away my "i's" and making them sound like "o's" or "a's." My accent was clearly different from some of my friends. Those from West Texas had The Twang that was more nasally and shortened words, rather than adding syllables and making them longer like we do in the East...

After I quickly learned what the difference was between the way I talked and my friends from other parts of the state, I easily became able to determine if someone was an East Texan neighbor just from hearing them talk. It became like a secret talent of mine - I could pin someone from Dangerfield, Lufkin, Canton or even Paris after hearing only a sentence or two come out of their mouth. Haha, really! And at that point I became more proud of my accent too! I loved East Texas then as much as I do now, and I realized liked having something about me that was distinguishably related to where I was from.

But in my communication class our professor spoke about how when someone works in broadcast television, they have to leave their accent behind and learn how to speak in an "accentless" voice (basically in something that sounds like someone from the MidWest). That didn't fly well with me. I felt like to chose to loose my accent would be leaving a part of me behind, and just be an incorrect representation of who I am. So sitting in Communication 101 I decided that a career in broadcast journalism just wasn't something that I was interested in anymore - I would rather keep my East Texan Drawl and stay true to my roots. I decided that I didn't need to be the next Katie Couric anyways! :)  And I like to think that's a little bit of Small Town Style.

What We Do Out Here

  Get Sonic drinks and shoot guns. :)

My handsome boyfriend, Logan, is in town this week, so I took the day off today to hang out with him. It was a really good day - We ate at our favorite BBQ spot, did a little fishing and finished the day off with a shooting lesson. It was so much fun!! We grabbed some Sonic drinks this afternoon and headed out to his family's land where we put down the tailgate of the truck and set up some paper plate targets. Logan was such a great teacher! (Right before I took the picture of him loading the 22 above, he said, "I am not going on your blog." ...But he is just too cute not to be.) And this is my plate that I hit a whopping 12 times -- I can't wait to show my dad!

It was a great ending to a great day, and just another one of those fun things we get to do out here in the country...safely, of course.  :) 

A Living Legacy

       

This is a true East Texas treasure.  

Located right outside of Gladewater is one sweet lady's dream come true. That lady is Mrs. Helen Lee, who in the 1950's bought a boxcar of daffodils straight from Holland to plant on over 28 acres of her 1,000 acre property. Knowing how the flowers multiply, her hope was that one day people would travel to Gladewater to see the daffodils and visit the town she loved. Mrs. Lee died in 1984 with no heirs, but the granddaughter of the Lee's workers, who originally planted the daffodils, now runs the garden, keeping the legacy of her and her helpers alive. 

My mom, sister and I visited the garden a couple of Saturdays ago. As we drove down the winding dirt road that took us through the acres of daffodils, windows down and enjoying the crisp East Texas spring air, I thought of Mrs. Lee and how her dream had come true. What a legacy she left! That Saturday her land was wrapped up with people viewing the flowers, children having their spring pictures taken by photographers and City of Gladewater volunteers telling visitors her story. People were coming to her hometown to enjoy her daffodils just like she hoped for when they were first planted. And I was thankful to her for investing in a place that people could enjoy and witness God's beautiful creations in the East Texas landscape. 

I also thought of the woman who know oversees the gardens each year, Mrs. Carolyn Owens Johnson - the granddaughter of two people who once faithfully worked for Mrs. Lee. Her own grandparents helped plant the flowers and bring these gardens to life. That she is dedicated to preserving their work speaks not only to her love of them, but her respect for Mrs. Lee. 

Legacy is something that we all have an opportunity to leave - whether we have wealth to share or not, we all have resources in our time, our talents and our words. Mrs. Lee and her helpers' legacy is alive in Gladewater today and something that moves my heart and inspires me to leave something behind for others as well- to use the time I have on this earth wisely and effectively enough to hopefully bring good to others even when I am one day gone. 

Mrs. Lee's Daffodil Garden has closed early this year, due to drought and the heat we've felt in East Texas. However, I encourage you to go next year! You can read more about the history and operation of the garden by clicking here.

Country Charm

 

One blessing about rural life is charming red barns. 

The more rust the better, and painted Texas flags is a good way to steal my heart. Throw in a couple of cows grazing in front and a little sunshine, and I'm thanking the Lord for bringing me to the country. :)