This morning I was digging around the glovebox of my '94 Ford Ranger pickup, looking for a tire gauge. I didn't find one, but after I pulled out all the owners manuals, maps, and legal documents, I found a .22 round at the bottom of the compartment. This was something of a surprise. I used to shoot guns as a kid, but its been years since I've even handled a gun, so I was pretty darn sure it wasn't mine. My dad drove the truck before me, but he takes pride in the fact that he hasn't shot a gun since boot camp in the 60s, so it didn't belong to him either. I imagine the previous owners left it in there, but I guess you know you live in the Southwest when you discover loose bullets in your vehicle.
Just one small note on general usage and terminology which has become a pet peeve of mine...
Neither Austin nor any other part of the Hill Country or Central Texas should properly be referred to as "The Southwest". I know, because I used to live in the REAL Southwest. Granted that this part of Texas is, marginally, arguably, on the EDGE of the Southwest, in sort of a transitional zone, but it is NOT the SW...
The Southwest should, both physically and (more important) culturally, be considered to include the following (in no particular order of preference):
- All of Arizona and New Mexico
- Parts of Southeastern Utah
- Parts of Southern and Southeastern California
- Parts of Southern Colorado
- Most of Nevada
- Chihuahua, Sonora, parts of Nuevo Leon, and a handful of other points south
- And West Texas (basically from El Paso east to about Odessa or San Angelo, north to maybe Lubbock, and south of course all the way to the border and well beyond).
That's it...
The people who actually live in the SW know this already. People who live in Central Texas but claim "The Southwest" are poseur victims of a cruel marketing ploy designed to unneccessarily and unfairly expand the Texan mystique beyond its own means.
That is all.
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