BuzzFeed Weekend Editor Summer Anne Burton has scored some major points with the Lone Star State in the last 24 hours. On Wednesday afternoon, her post "50 Sure Signs That Texas Is Actually Utopia" was published, immediately spreading like wildfire fed by the very proud Texas souls for whom she wrote it.
A Texas native who now calls New York home, Burton presents "50 of the 10,000 things that make Texas special," showcasing everything from breakfast tacos to Friday Night Lights' now famous motto.
After reviewing BuzzFeeds list of 50, CultureMap has rounded up our take on what makes Texas a utopia. Agree or disagree, it will surely make your Texas Pride surge.
Editor in Chief, Caitlin Ryan:
Agree: The beauty of the desert
I didn't know it until I visited the Texas desert for the first time last year, but damn, is it ever magnificent. Something about the high desert plains out West feels so cleansing and invigorating. Sure, life is slow 'round those parts, but the silence, the wind, and the vastness of it all it is nothing short of inspiring. Except if you're Aleksander (see below).
Remove: Schlitterbahn
The name still sends shivers down my spine. A family outing turned into a little girl's nightmare when all Schlitterbahn slides were evacuated and closed due to a rat infestation. That little girl was me, and she's feared nutria ever since. She also fears the water park that once played home to said rodents.
Indeed, the stars are big and bright at night, but let's talk about the sweeping sky that exists around the clock in Texas. After spending years living in New York, coming home to Texas to be enveloped by an everlasting horizon, vibrantly hued sunsets, and equally as majestic stormy skies offered more healing than any amount of therapy every could. The Texas sky never fails. Even in the daylight hours.
Can a utopia exist on Tex-Mex alone? Not in a state abuzz with pitmaster changes, where lines wrap around buildings for the mere chance to taste a single slice of slow-cooked beef. We'd be foolish to suggest that brisket and ribs not make the cut for what is truly Texas tradition.
Did you see her Super Bowl performance? Do you, even if you're guy, have a Pavlovian response and do that hand twist gesticulation when you hear "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)"? Do you not think her marriage to Jay-Z is not the most irrepressibly genuine display of affection you've ever seen? There is no question.
Remove: Marfa
Nothing against resident Marfans, it's just that the hipster town of the desert (and this can just as easily be said about Austin) is overrated. It's in the desert! There's an art installation that looks like a Prada store! Old hipsters! It's in the desert! Eh.
Call us old-fashioned, but isn't there something to how nice Texans can be? If someone bumps into you on the street, they'll apologize. And it'll be sincere! And we observe strict adherence to addressing others as "ma'am" and "sir" and being sure to say "please" and "thank you." Because in Texas, there's this crazy idea that we should be nice to each other.
Agree: Kolaches
While the rest of the nation's churchgoers have to gather for lukewarm coffee and stale donuts, Texas parishioners get to enjoy kolaches.
Remove: The Bush twins
Nobody's going to remember them for anything besides the underage drinking busts.
Add: The Alamo
Remember it?
We collectively love and hate both Marfa and the desert.
