Posted by Wade on December 17, 2003 at 01:42:44:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Photo Test posted by Rick Denney on December 16, 2003 at 15:27:01:
I will add to Rick's post some.
My family is a bunch of sausage-eating Krauts that speak German at home. (Except for me - Ich spreche klein Deutsch. Es tut mir leid, daß ich Sie belästigt habe. Entschuldigen Sie, bitte.) I grew up speaking much more Spanish due to the fact that San Antonio is about 75% hispanic. That means that I am pretty culturally mixed up. (Jo toco la tuba para la Orquesta Sinfonica de Mississippi für die leste elf Jahren.)
My first real, regular gig was playing at Wurst Fest in New Braunfels with Myron Florin (accordionist of Lawrence Welk fame). I love new Braunfels. Up until a six years ago (when I still went home for Christmas), I would drive up there and play Santa Claus at the Children's Museum and play Carols on my F tuba; scared the bejeezus out of the little kids, too.
Most of my family is from Boerne, Kerrville, and Comfort; my part of the family are the "City Folks" and are considered to be pretty irregular by the German-speakers.
There is a distinct South Texas German accent. All of my family speak a little like Lawrence Welk and Myron Florin. It is a hoot. I wish that I had picked it up, too; it is charming. However, if I get really drunk, my real accent comes out and I sound vaguely hispanic and sing-songy.
My neighborhood grocery store in San Antonio (called H.E.B.) has a big sign over the door:
Weldome!
¡Bienvenidos!
Willkommen!
The local music is called Tejano. It used to be called Conjuncto. And Rick nailed it: It is an amalgam of German Polka and that gutsy, open Mexican Mariachi singing (lots of harmony in thirds) with lots of accordion. It is actually very good. It sounds even better after a few Lone Stars or Shiner Bocks.
The Hill Country is really beautiful. My erstwhile dream was to retire there on that land that I have never gotten around to buying and in the house that I have never built. The hills are covered in Blue Bonnets, Snap Dragons and Indian Paint Brush in the spring. The Blue Bonnets can be overwhelming. I love to camp out in those hills (Lost Maples State Natural Area is my favorite camping and hiking destination.) It is still fairly isolated in the Hill Country, but parts have become disappointingly tourist-driven and suburban.
My family reunions are held near a little town called Hunt on the Guadalupe River. The resort side is a pleasant grassy slope down to the water. The opposite shore is a sheer 150 to 200 foot limestone cliff with lights hidden all over it. At night it is really nice.
The driving in between these towns is great! Large, steep hills with snaky roads and lots of wildlife are fun to navigate in the Spring. Just avoid it a night, as you might have a really bad accident (We totaled our car once when we hit an all-black, 300 pound Javalina! Then her mate charged our car repeatedly for nearly fifteen minutes until he decided to wander off with a bad headache. We sat out there for five hours before someone drove by and gave us a lift back into Bandera (this was in the pre-cell phone days).
South and Central Texans are nothing at all like their more famous (and big-talking) North and East Texas neighbors; it is not the same type of place. The accents are not even close either. People from Dallas often talk like J.R. Ewing, but my friend and I all sound like we are from Ohio. Go figure. It is a big place with lots of space between the big cities.
Wade "Bratwurst, Carne Asada, and Lone Star Beer are all part of my care and feeding instructions" Rackley