You know how to pronounce Arroll, Bucyrus and Hartshorn.
You don’t think Licking women sounds kinda kinky.
You know Beulah, Eunice, Oscar and Clara are neighborhoods, not people.
You have spent a lot of years on the road to Success.
You know that Blackberry winter happens in the spring and Indian Summer happens in the fall.
You know that going to Walmart “just to look” is a favorite local past time.
You are an only child and still related to half the county.
You attend the Old Settlers Reunion instead of the Texas County Fair.
You enjoy the change of seasons – deer, turkey, rabbit and squirrel.
You know that soon after picking blackberries you will pick ticks and scratch chiggers.
Your first serious date included a ride on a church bus or a school bus.
You know the names of your third cousins.
You know there is a Debo who doesn’t own Debo’s, what animal he doesn’t like and you may even know his real name.
You know not to bring a picnic basket to the Raymondville Picnic. You bring an umbrella, cause you do know it is going to rain.
The term “dragging Grand” in Houston brings back fond memories of your teenage years.
When you mention Possum Trot, Lower Bean (there was an Upper Bean, too) and White Rock — animal, vegetable or mineral? Nope, school days in Texas County. You know that Split Limb, Lone Oak and Brown Hill have nothing to do with landscaping, either; they were also schools in Texas County. Although Freely Give sounds like a great name for a church it was the name of a school.
You know someone who went to the doctor’s office, post office or general store on the Bado square.
Someone wants to meet you at Dykes, Tweed’s Corner or Slabtown and you know where they will be.
You know someone fishes in the Piney River if their favorite fishing hole is at Sand Shoals, McKinney Eddy, Horse Shoe Bend or Blue Hole.
Your favorite picnic spots are at the Narrows, Flat Rock, Lundy Mill, Boiling Springs or Bear Claw.
Someone says they attended church at Union or Oak Hill, you ask which Union or Oak Hill, and if they tell you they attended church at Boone Creek, Big Creek or Elk Creek you know they are Baptist.
You have ancestors who fought for both the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War, or you have one ancestor who fought for both sides.
Someone recounts fond memories of Blue Moon, Sleepy Hollow, Millstone or Monkey Doo, you know they spent a lot of time hanging out at the local taverns.
Your neighborhood “in town” has deer, foxes, skunks, possums, coons or ground hogs that wander through your yards.
You have a least one Indian ancestor and the family is just now getting around to admitting it.
You can give directions to Sweet Potato or Saltpeter Caves.
You are only a native of Texas County if your grandparents were born here. Everyone else is a “fur-inn-er,” but the locals will take you in and treat you like family.
By MaryLee Lowrey, Houston