Deep In The Heart of Exile

The other day, Ian was telling me about how, at school, they had been singing what he described as "the unofficial state anthem of Texas."  Of course, I assumed, correctly, that he was referring to that stirring hymn, "Deep In The Heart of Texas."

But then he said something that surprised me - particularly about that song:  he mentioned that as they were singing it, he almost broke out in tears.  Of course I wanted to know why...  The song made him think of his cousin James, and James's newlywed bride, Karen; they were married in the Spring, and they moved from Connecticut to Texas as soon as they got married.

So the very mention of Texas, in a song in class, made him think of his cousin and cousin-in-law, who were stolen away from Olde New Englande and remain on the other side of the world, not far from Lubbock.  Never mind that Connecticut itself is several hours away from us, and when they lived there, we only got to see them a few times a year: having them removed to this faraway land of oil wells and steers takes all the joy out of that hardy old thigh-slappin' hoedown jingle.

(September, 2013)