Tidbits of Texas

Who would have thought that a state as conservative as Texas would have a governor named Hogg? Well, maybe that's not so strange. But, on the other hand, couldn't he have named his daughter something other than Ima! It's true. Ima Hogg, who later gave herself the name Ima Imogene Hogg, was born in 1882 to James Stephen "Big Jim" Hogg. Big Jim later became the Texas state Attorney General and in 1889 was elected the 20th governor of Texas. Big Jim had a reputation for being what we today would call "a card." One day, the former governor went to get his shoes shined. They were shined by an Italian. Not in the mood for talking, Big Jim decided to pretend he was deaf and dumb. It worked. The Italian stopped talking. Legend has it that Ima had a sister named Ura Hogg. Legend however, has been proved false. Ima Hogg went on in her father's footsteps and made a name for herself as a benovolent lady. She never married but said she received over 30 proposals! Ima lived to be nearly a hundred and died not all that long ago in 1975.

Ah, Texas! Home on the Range! And home of some of the best tall tales in the world. There goes good ol' Pecos Bill. His rope sailing through the air as he rides a tornado across the state and finally hogties it down in Kansas! Could you do the same? I suspect that those tornado chasers I hear about would love to speak with ol' Pecos Bill, but, this time, they're out'a luck. Pecos Bill is long gone. And all that is left of him is the stories and tales which stand tall in your local library. And they get taller every time they're told!

Who could talk about Texas without talking about animals? Texas, as would any other state, would be incomplete without it's fauna. One might expect that the animal chosen to be glorified in this post would be the longhorn steer. This, however, is not the case. On the contrary, most Texans probably don't know that they have such an unusual rabbit living in their state. If they did know, they would probably attribute it to the greatness of their state. Yes, the Texas rabbit has been endowed in the more recent years with an abnormal amount of courage. Courage! in a rabbit! This courage is evidenced in a unique manner. It so happened, as certain Texans were sitting on their back porch, (or something) that they privileged to see one of these unique rabbits in action. At the same time, they saw what would normally be a rabbit's mortal enemy: a snake; and a large one too. But no, the rabbit did not run away! On the contrary, the Texas rabbit went towards the snake! When the snake, (whether venomous or not is uncertain) struck at the rabbit. The rabbit bounced, and...Returned for More! Naturally, the snake struck again. Was the rabbit daunted? No! This amazing Texas rabbit got around the snake to the tail end and started biting. Not long afterward, the snake was seen retreating in full flight; the rabbit following quickly afterward. The story began with the snake having the upper hand. The story ends with the snake in the branches of a tree approximately 2 feet up! Yes, truly, Texas rabbits have been endowed with a marvelous amount of courage.

(This has been: Tidbits of Texas! tune in nexttime to read the first in the series: Fountain of Thoughts!)