My Practically Perfect Life

So I am from a very small town in west Texas called Floydada. Not many people have heard about it, but it has some quirky reasons you should!

Number 1, I grew up there! Haha I know I know, who cares! But I still have to try and throw myself into the cool party!!

Don Williams was born in Floydada! In 1939. He went on to be one of the best (in my opinion) country music singer/song writers there was! Now is any of that because he was born in Floydada? Well we obviously don’t know. So the answer is yes!!

Floydada is the pumpkin capital of the US! I mean what more could you ask for from a small town?! Well I will tell you, for said town to have Punkin Days every year! That’s right! Punkin Days happens once a year and I truly think everyone should go at least once in their lifetime. Why you ask? Because I said so! There are vendors, good food, a car show, cow patty bingo and more! And if you are one of the lucky few that get to stay with my parents there is a comfy couch with Hallmark movies to watch with my dad!

Another cool thing there, is a while back archaeologists excavated in Blanco Canyon which is about 6 miles south of Floydada. They found evidence that Spanish explorer Fransisco Vazquez de Coronado established a major camp there during his search for Quivira, one of the legendary Seven Cities of Gold. The Floyd County Historical Museum downtown displays some of the artifacts from Coronado’s campsite. It’s a small museum but really neat.

Here are a few more names of people that originated in Floydada/Floyd County. Maurice Ewing became a geophysicist who led more than 50 oceanic expeditions. Today, Dr. Ewing is credited with the discovery of the Sofar Channel, which allows sound to pass through the ocean. Damon Washington is a former NFL running back who took the New York Giants to Superbowl 35. He has since retired and became an award winning jewelry designer. Max Crawford was an award winning author. Many of his novels were set in West Texas, like “Waltz Across Texas,” “Backslider” and “Lords of the Plain,” which was a favorite of former President Ronald Reagan. Lucy Dean Record started playing the piano at age 4. Today she is acclaimed as the “Queen of the Western Swing Pianists” and has been indicted in multiple music hall of fame lists. And Jeff Kimble may not ring a bell, but this Floydada boy became a professor at CalTech, whose research in quantum optics was considered groundbreaking research. He was nominated for a Nobel Prize in physics in 1998.

Floydada has the typical downtown that most small towns do, however now there are way fewer stores downtown that there were when I was growing up. Which is sad, but part of life in a rural town. But you can’t beat the brick streets that surround downtown and the murals on the side of the old buildings.

Now, why am I giving you a history lesson on this small town that nobody has heard of? Well, because it is part of me. A huge part of me. It is where I grew up. And where my parents still live. Did I love the town while I lived there? Nope!! Do I love the town now?? I mean I wouldn’t want to move back there! But it has its qualities that give me enough pride to tell people that is where I grew up. I believe growing up in a small town gave me a lot of the characteristics that have made me who I am today.

Small towns can be good and bad for the fact that everyone pretty much knows everyone! Which means it’s like you have a giant family and always have someone down the street that you can turn to if you need something. It also means that as soon as you do anything your parents will find out before you even knew it happened!! I graduated with 42 people, almost all of which I started Kindergarten with! And so many of which I am still in touch with! That also means that everyone at some point had one or both of my parents as a teacher. Small towns mean you can get where you need to go quickly! Kids were driving to school way before they had their license. Hell, I didn’t get mine until I was 17 because it just wasn’t a priority. I drove everywhere! Just not…legally! Don’t worry, that is the only time I ever broke the law…ah shit, my pants are on fire! Ha!!

I believe that people who grew up in a small town have more pride for not only their hometown but they also will have more pride for everything they have in life. They learn that early on because you don’t have the conveniences of living in a city. And while it sucked sometimes, I am glad I grew up that way. These are things I worked hard to instill in my boys as they grew up too. In a world of instant gratification and not having to work as hard for the things you want in life, it is nice to know I have lived without such benefits and am mostly an ok person!!

Why did I just go on this spiel about my small hometown when the title says I hope this day is good? Well simple. I was listening to my music and Mr. Don Williams started playing “Lord I Hope This Day is Good”! And it really is such an awesome song in general but what if we started every morning out with that sentiment? Because who doesn’t want to have a good day? I know I always want to, and always try to. Even if it’s a not-so-great day I always try to find something good about it. Because what a miserable life we would live if we just focused on the negatives. So be positive that you will have a good day! Be proud of where you came from! And start listening to some Don Williams if you need a smile on your face!!

“I wouldn’t trade on single day in small town USA” -Justin Moore

“Towns change; they grown or diminish, but hometowns remain as we left them” -Jayne Anne Phillips

“I’m no Cinderella, but I know that pumpkins are magical!”