Merry Christmas from 30 million Texans

 (My new American Thinker post)

You don't need a newspaper story to confirm that Texas is growing.  Just look around and see the growth, the new homes and office buildings.  Nevertheless, we did learn this week that there are 30 millions of us in Texas.  This is from the Texas Tribune:   

Fueled by migration to the state from other parts of the country, Texas crossed a new population threshold this year: It is now home to 30 million people.

New estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau put the state’s population as of July 1 at 30,029,572 following years of steady growth. This makes Texas the only state, other than California, with a population of more than 30 million.

Here we come, California!  

And there is more:    

Texas’ population increased by 470,708 people since July 2021, the largest gain in the nation. Texas regularly holds that top spot on the bureau’s annual population updates. Roughly half of that growth came from net domestic migration -- the number of people coming to Texas from other states -- while the other half was split almost evenly between net international migration and natural increase, which is the difference between births and deaths.

Cheers for Texas.  The rapid growth does have its concerns, from traffic jams and constant construction on the highways.  It's difficult to get around despite all the new toll roads and HOV lanes.

Last, but not least, wonder what Santa thinks of having more deliveries in Texas.  Maybe he will add that George Strait tune to his playlist about Christmas time in Texas:    

When Santa Claus slips over the border

It'll sound a little different when he sings

'Cause he'll hear those twin fiddle's playin'

Christmas songs with a touch of western swing

There may not be snow in San Antonio

But it's a Texas Christmas to me

Merry Christmas everybody from 30 million of us in the Lone Star State.

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Happy # 64 Rickey Henderson

We say happy birthday to Rickey Henderson.    He was born in Chicago on this day in 1958 but grew up in Oakland, California.    

Rickey made his debut in 1979 going 2-for-4 against Texas.   His career took off in 1980 stealing 396 bases over 4 seasons.   In 1985, he was traded to the Yankees but came back to the A's in 1989.   Henderson was with the A's when they won 3 straight AL pennants, 1989-90-91, and Toronto when they won the World Series in 1993.

Overall, he hit .279, with 3,055 hits.   He is the all time leader in runs scored (2,295) and stolen bases (1,406).

Henderson was the greatest lead off hitter in baseball history.    In 2009, Rickey was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Over the years, Henderson was a character on and off the field.

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Apollo 8 and memories from Christmas 1968

My father died 7 Decembers ago.  My mother died 18 months ago. I always remember them on certain anniversaries or those first years in “el exilio.”.

On Christmas Eve 1968, our family went to the midnight mass. By the way, very few parishes actually celebrate mass at midnight anymore.  Our church today celebrates mass at 9 p.m.!

Nevertheless, it was a rather remarkable ride from church. It took me a while to realize that I was hearing three men reading the Good Book from a spaceship circling the moon. It was one of those moments that I will never forget.   

Years ago, families actually sat around to watch the NASA missions. In our household, it was a lot of fun to gather around the TV and enjoy an Apollo rocket going into space.  My favorite part was hearing my father say that he would have never believed it when he was growing up.  My mother would usually compliment the U.S., with the Cuban version of “what a country”.

The Apollo 8 mission accomplished some rather big objectives:  

The six-day mission was a roaring success, orbiting the moon 10 times and testing out the “trans-lunar injection” system and other electronic networks that would allow future missions to land on the moon over the next three years. Anders’ iconic photo (known as the “Earthrise” image) of a partially shaded bright blue Earth graced a U.S. stamp and is credited in part with being a catalyst for the environmental movement. The astronauts were feted with a ticker-tape parade in New York City.

The mission gradually lost a measure of prominence after Apollo 11 carried Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the lunar surface the following year. Other missions also grabbed the public’s attention, including the Apollo 13 mission Lovell commanded in 1970 that failed and became the subject of a Hollywood movie. 

The Apollo 8 crew was Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders.. They became the first humans to see the far side of the Moon.   I recall my father talking about all of those science-fiction comic books in Cuba about the unknown on the dark side of the moon.

Who wasn’t stunned to see that picture of the earth floating is space on the cover of the weekly magazines? It certainly put living in our good earth in a little different perspective.

Who knows when we will send men to another world again? I was fortunate to see it!

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