Friday, June 17, 2005

Texas Suicide

I seriously don't know why Texas doesn't lead the country with the highest suicide rates. Or murder rates, for that matter.

I have just spent the entire day in West Texas. Yesterday we drove across Texas, which is a horror in itself, but today we spent the majority of the day in El Paso. You have not seen the face of death until you have been to West Texas and El Paso.

Not only is it hot, but it's the ugliest place I've ever seen and the only thing that fills the air other than desperation, is dust. Why bother to shower, wash your car or sweep your porch when in just moments it will be covered with a new layer of dirt?

Here is a picture of El Paso. In case you can't get the full effect from this visual, imagine it as described below:


First, picture dirt for as far as your eye can see. Then, add a few brown, scraggly bushes in the foreground. Depending on which direction you look, there may be a brown, lifeless mountain and a tree or two that looks as if they are dying.

If you are in a "residential" area, be sure to add a few mud looking huts with corrugated steel siding and cardboard over where the windows used to be. A few broken down appliances, a car on blocks and some dusty, disgusting kids toys in the yard complete the picture.

To really get the FULL effect, I suggest the following. With the image above in your mind, set your oven to 400 degrees and when the timer goes off, get really close and open the door. The rush of stifling heat that takes your breath away is what the air in Texas feels like.

I can't imagine having to wake up everyday in this hot, bleak wasteland. Seriously, if there were a blade to slit my wrists, I think today would have been the day. Thank God we only carry plastic utensils in the truck.

Tonight I am in Odessa, TX. Not much better, I tell you. Equally as ugly and barren, and the only thing that dots the landscape are oil refineries. Even if I were a rich oil baroness, I would not EVER live here. I would own my oil fields from a place far, far away and have my underlings running things here in the depths of hell.

Tomorrow we are heading to Carlsbad, NM (which should be the second highest suicide rate state) for the weekend and then off to the Northwest. Ahhhhh. I can't wait to get to the Pacific Northwest and see some REAL scenery.


No comments: