Professor J's Place

My  mother was a single mom with three girls. She worked hard, but without any support from my father or any other family members, money was hard to come by. So when the weekend rolled around we would load up the cooler with Shasta pop (at .5 a can), hard boiled eggs, boiled hot dogs, and potato salad. And we'd drive out to a park. Usually, we'd head out to Garner State Park in the Texas Hill Country. I know you readers from outside of Texas hear us talk about the Hill Country like it's God's back yard. And it is. But it might be hard for you to see. It is not lush and thick with trees like the wonderful woods in Georgia and the Carolinas. The hills are not majestic like the mountains of Colorado or magical like the hills of Kentucky.  Our trees are slightly gray in color; even the old trees seem more like shrubs than the wonder that is the woods of Northern California. But we are pulled here.  I think it is the psychology of sparseness. I think it is the shor...

Flash back a month or so ago. Susan asks sweetly, "What do you want for your birthday?" Now, I will probably post on this topic one day soon, but it has been a long time since I have wanted something and waited for it. If I want something reasonable (not an RV or a new lap top or anything outrageously expensive), I purchase it for myself. Gone are my girlhood days of the wish list. Everyone I know is this way--we just don't allow ourselves want any more. So, I thought and thought, and here's what I came up with: Yep, that's right. A trip to Johnson City! For those of you out of "the know" (or those of you not from Texas), Johnson City is the home of Lyndon Johnson, our thirty-sixth president. It was actually named for his grandfather's brother, who donated the land for the original settlement. What a trip it would be to grow up in a town named for your family. Perhaps that gave LBJ some of his sense of responsibility and destiny. Perhaps it lent a l...

In an effort to comfort me, both Mrs. T and Melanie mentioned some Texans who have made the world a better place. I can only say, amen, sisters. Here's one who makes me prouder than I can say. "Who then will speak for America? Who then will speak for the common good?" Barbara Jordon (1936-1996) was born in Houston Texas' West End. She became a state legislator in 1966, served as president of the "ledge," became a congresswoman, gained some notoriety during the Watergate hearings, and gave the key note address at the Democratic National Convention in 1976. I was a junior in High School at the time. I remember her voice. I remember her words. I remember that we hoped that Jimmy Carter would choose Jordon as his running mate. I remember people talking about how it might someday be possible for a woman to become president. I remember thinking that it might one day be possible for an African American to be president. She served until 1979, when multiple sclerosi...

The United States is the highest producer of greenhouse gasses. Guess which state tops the list of offenders within the United States. . . That's right! Texas ! We aim to be the biggest and the baddest, and in this case we succeed. Heck, we have double the emissions of the two states below us combined . Why? Well in part, it could be that our biggest supply of energy comes from coal. It could also stem from our lack of good public transportation and our love of big cars . But for the most part, I think we simply DON'T believe that our emissions have anything to do with global warming. Last semester two of my ADULT students wrote essays about global warming. Both of them took the position that we cannot prove that the rising emissions of greenhouse gasses have anything to do with global climate change. O.K. if you are stupid skeptical, then what about the other dangers of air polution? What about the rising rates of lung disease like asthma and COPD? What about the r...