Houston, Texas

In the Eastern region of Texas is Houston, one of the top ten largest cities in the US. The name Houston comes from Sam Houston. Sam helped win the war of independence of Texas from Mexico. In a decisive battle, General Sam Houston defeated General Antonio López de Santa Ana, the president of Mexico and commander of the army, in a matter of minutes with very few casualties. The legend behind the victory is that the Yellow Rose of Texas, a mulato housekeeper that was seized in Galveston by the Mexican army, had seduced General Santa Anna at the time when General Houston launched his attack. This had the Mexican army unprepared and unorganized to fend off General Houston's attack. Above, I am posed before the monument to Sam Houston. At one time, in fact in Sam Houston's time, Texas was its own country. It was only with reluctance that Texas joined the US officially as a state. This hesitation can be seen by the fact that Texas is the only state in the US that has a legal right to break the union with the rest of the United States because this was one condition that the Texans demanded before they would join the union. This is the outside of Museum of Fine Art, Houston where I got to see some great artwork. I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a [painting done in a pointillistic style of a] tree... This was a beautiful painting of a girl with her younger sibling. This is in the backyard of the museum. Pretty nifty! One thing Texas is known for is barbecue. It certainly ranks among the best that I have had. There is hardly a commercial street without a BBQ business. This Pig Stand was one of the more inventively named establishments. Further East of Houston in the Channelview region is the White Elephant Flea Market. This was about as close as I got to it. There are times when you realize that zoning laws and Home Owners Associations can be a very good thing. Such is the case for the residential neighborhood with the honor of hosting the Orange Show. The Orange Show is the product of one man's passion for his favorite fruit; the orange. Over the course of 34 years, mail carrier Jeff McKissack built this monument to oranges out of common building materials and recycled junk. Unfortunately, the Orange Show was closed for renovations at the time I was there. So he can only imagine the wonders kept within... Someone realized that the Orange Show neighborhood had a good sense of humor about creative living spaces. So someone decided to build a home out of a recycled rocket!