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Oct 22, 2022·edited Oct 22, 2022Author

I wrote this because some of you know, a couple of months ago, I wrote a poem about it and it brought a lot back to me. It wasn’t love but the combination of Texas being my first trip overseas and the whirlwind romance I experienced, made it all seem so incredibly glamorous and exciting to me at the time.

I was only there 3 months - it was an internship as part of Uni, I was working in a school - but it was one of the best 3 months of my life. I went back over, but as with any time you return to something, it’s never the same.

And yeah that’s also my son’s name but I didn’t name him after my ex, that would be weird.

That photo always makes me laugh. I’d never seen a fridge that big before. That’s why I got the picture 😂

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Oct 23, 2022Liked by Julie Dee

Beautifully written. Reading your words on a grey Sunday afternoon, it was refreshing to be taken somewhere brighter.

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Thank you Victoria. It was such an awakening for me. My first real experience of true ‘otherness’.

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Oct 22Liked by Julie Dee

Love this... I live in Austin Texas.. thank you! The boot fits!

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Oh I went there when I was there - a college town :) I adored Texas. What an amazing place you live in.

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Oct 22Liked by Julie Dee

Familiar territory! I grew up in Oklahoma, which has the same general culture and accepting hospitality, but much less drama and grandiosity. I felt like a CITIZEN in Enid. I've never felt the same anywhere else. Enid loves its oddballs, and had some highly literate and original oddballs.

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Yes I’ve been to a few areas in the US but Texas was something else. I just adored it. I smile just thinking about it. Warm, good vibes.

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Dang Substack. Let me edit! I can spell skepticism but my fingers are fat.

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Well, except for you understandable skeptisism about the waitress' sweet babble (Texans are in fact naturally effusively friendly), y'all nailed it!

"It’s a state that knows it’s shit hot, proudly holding its own like a porn star in a urinal." 🤠

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It’s a different culture as in the US is much more salesy which to someone from the UK can sound a bit fake til you get used to it.That said, that was in 95 and the UK has very much caught up.

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founding

Evocative words as always. I wanna go, once they start letting purebloods back in.

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Oh it’s a fabulous place. I was in such awe of it. Everything, the width of the streets, the intense heat, the friendliest people I ever met, the brightness of the sun, the amazing ice cream, a baby armadillo I saw crossing a road…. I could go on 😂😂

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founding

Texas feels like such a metaphor for independence. My sister-in-law Polly (producer of the movie Vaxxed) lives there. My brother bought me two pairs of boots back from his visits. Sometimes I’ll wear them to work if a bit of my inner Cowboy is called for.

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It’s a very confident place. Wondrous. I have visited 5 states in the US and it was by far my favourite.

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Oct 22, 2022Liked by Julie Dee

Sublime🥰🥰🥰

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Oh it was such a happy time for me🥰

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We must be around the same age, except I didn't meet Texas when I saw the Black Crowes in Bristol.

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😂😂😂

I’m 48 and a half.

Seen loads of good bands in Bristol myself. I lived there for a while too! Saw Dandy Warhols there. That was an amazing gig 🔥

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52 - it was a great time for live music! x

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That was my favourite line too😂😂😂

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