Tuesday, November 10, 2015 – Abilene, Huntsville, Sam Houston State, Grade Points, Family, and History or Random Access Stream of Consciousness
Abilene. Abilene. Prettiest town that I’ve ever seen. Woman there don’t treat you mean. In Abilene. My Abilene.
I know people there don’t treat you mean – or at least they didn’t treat me mean during my several West Texas Education Service Center Tours. It was the Midland, San Angelo, Abilene, Lubbock and Amarillo route via puddle jumper airplanes and the cheapest rental cars from whichever service the state of Texas was using that year. Ah I loved travelling to exotic places.
Transportation mode in West Texas used along Route 66 during The Depression on their way to The Promise Land – California.
But prettiest town… are there other options in West Texas for prettiest town? Must go with San Angelo for prettiest town.
Cousin Darryl’s team did it again last Saturday. Northwestern defeated Abilene Christian University in Abilene for a second victory in a row. Way go Cuz. I see that the Demons are coming to Huntsville this weekend to play the Sam Houston State Bearkats. I hope you get to eat at the Barbeque Baptist Church on Old Possum Road.
Make sure you arrive at the correct state institution in Huntsville. Both offer the color orange in their uniforms. One is significantly more restrictive than the other.
Like Natchitoches, Huntsville is a beautiful town filled with rich histories. The campus is a beautiful and very hilly one. In looking at my Wall of Papers, I see that I have a degree from Sam Houston – a Master of Arts in History – 1978.
The emphasis was the time period that dealt with the 1848 European revolutions (and there was a bunch of them –people pissed off all over the place about everything you could think of, people were running around killing people,), the Rise of Otto von Bismark and the German political state, and not just Otto. There were many oratory politicians.
I had a couple of minors with emphasis in American history. One minor is in American Social and Intellectual History and the other is the social, economic, technological and political changing revolutionary period of time in American history preceding the turn of the century- that would be from the 18th to the 19th. (1880’s – 1914.)
Carnegie Library in downtown Bryan, Texas
I am not certain the building housing the Sam Houston history department still exists. I hope so due to the beautiful architecture. It was the original library. But I took all 36 required hours in the same room and sitting in the same chair and actually telling new people “That is where I sit. Please move.” In personal reflections I am more like Dr. Sheldon Cooper that I would like to admit.
I first matriculated into Sam Houston as a summer school student in 1968. Those history classes were held in the Old Main Building. This beautiful old building burned sometime in the early 1980’s.
Due to my significantly unimpressive overall 1.2 grade point average from Stephen F. Austin for two semesters, my mother said “Go to summer school, raise your grades or you’re coming home.”
In a futile effort to convince her I had learned many things that were not reflected on my still existing and unimpressive undergraduate SFA transcript, her response was “If it is not on your transcript, I do not want to see it. And you probably should not be doing it.” Side note: As usual, Mama was about 99% right on. But she was wrong on this aspect. Learning to open a beer bottle through various means – a car door, a house door, a belt buckle or your blind date’s teeth – or any other mechanism that provides leverage has proven quite valuable over time. Leverage to open a bottle of Boone’s Farm was not necessary. Neither was a corkscrew.
I took both required semesters of American History on the first floor in Old Main. My professor was Dr. Duncan – aka Flunking Duncan – she doesn’t give A’s.” Education News Flash – A’s are not given; they are earned.
I sat in the back of a very crowded and hot classroom – no AC in those days. Upon daily dismissal, I climbed out the back window. Well, I wasn’t the only one. What were you thinking?
Anyway, Cousin Darryl – Here’s wishing the Demons good luck against Sam Houston. I am pretty sure the historical monuments regarding my Sam Houston experiences are not yet listed by historical markers. I should donate some money.
In addition to my two A’s from Dr. Duncan’s classes, I am sure the Huntsville and Sam Houston police can tell you where all of my speeding tickets and parking citations were handed out. I recall several right there by Bowers Stadium.
Past insurance claims can pin point how many times I wrecked HB and Mama’s car. Hey, it was hard to get a 1968 Chevrolet Impala Land Yacht into and out of those narrow parking places.
I must stop and get ready for the GOP debates tonight and put that Master of Arts Degree in History to work. Let me see – what are possible topics for tonight? People pissed off about all kinds of things; the rise of strong leaders and significantly changing social, economic, technological and social times.
From The Department of Redundancy Department – History Repeats Itself Again.
Happy Tuesday.
Here's What I'm Thinking 